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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http : //books . google . com/ •^ f( LIBRARY OF THK University of California. Class ?. (UfoA^ T^^i^-iPtZ^ Engineering Reminiscences CONTRIBUTED TO "Power" and "American Machinist" CHARLES T. PORTER It Honorary Member op The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Author of ^*A Trtatite on the Richards SUam~*ng^iM* Indicator and the Doveiopmtnt and Application of Force in the Steam-engine^^ 1^4: ** Mechanics and Paith^* tS8s REVISED AND ENLARGED FIUST EDITION FIRST THOUSAND O^ THE \ i-'^NIVERSITY ) OF J NEW YORK JOHN WILEY & SONS London : CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited 1908 ^^< ^^^^" GE?.ERAl Copyright. 1908 BY CHARLES T. PORTER to THIS BOOK IS DBDICATKI) TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER AND MOTHKH t7:M>14 My Father My Mother ^ OF THE I'NIVERSITY Of PREFACE A WORD of explanation seems due to both the reader and myself. The idea of writing these reminiscences did not originate with me. I was invited to write them by Mr. F. R. Low, the editor of Power. This invitation I declined, saying that I felt averse to writing a story in which I must be the central figure. Mr. Low replied that I should regard it as a duty I owed to the profession. Engineers demanded to know the origin and early development of the high speed system of steam engineering. I was the only person who could meet this demand; no one else possessed the necessary information. I felt obliged to yield to this view, and can only ask the reader to imagine that I am writing about somebody else. C. T. P. MONTCLAIR, N. J., December, 1907. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAQB Birth, Parentage and Education. Experience in the Practice of Law. Introduction to Centrifugal Force. Invention and Operation of a Stone- dressing Machine 1 CHAPTER II The Evolution and Manufacture of the Central Counterpoise Governor. Introduction of Mr. Richards 17 CHAPTER III Invention and Application of my Marine Governor 34 CHAPTER IV Blngineering Conditions in 1860. I meet Mr. Allen. Mr. Allen's Inventions. Analysis of the Allen Link 42 CHAPTER V Invention of the Richards Indicator. My Purchase of the Patent. Plan my London Exhibition. Engine Design. Ship Engine Bed to London, and sail myself 58 CHAPTER VI Arrival in London. Conditions I found there. Preparations and Start .... 65 CHAPTER VII My London Exhibit, its Success, but what was the matter? Remarkable Sale of the Engine 71 vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII PAOB Sale of Governors. Visit from Mr. Allen. Operation of the Engine Sold to Eafiton, Amos & Sons. Manufacture of the Indicator. Application on Locomotives 80 CHAPTER IX Designs of Horizontal Engine Beds. Engine Details. Presentation of the Indicator at the Newcastle Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 93 CHAPTER X Contract with Ormerod, Grierson d, and the result was that we bought the patent. To make sure of its value, however, I first called with Mr. Hastings on Mr. Munn, INVENTION OF A STONE-DRESSING MACHINE 5 his patent solicitor, and received Mr. Munn's assurance that he had a very high opinion of it. I gradually abandoned my law business, and devoted myself to the exploitation of this invention. I put into it all the money I had and all that I could borrow. After a while a large working machine was completed for us, the drawings for which I had made by a German draftsman, and which was l>uilt under my direction at the works of Mott & Ayers, near the foot of West Twenty-sixth Street. When this machine was fin- ished the parties in interest assembled at these works to see it tried. One experiment was enough. I had put into the machme a stone that was quite a foot thick and which was supported at two points. At the first cut made across this stone it broke in two in the middle. I found myself, in the words of President Cleveland, "confronted not by a theory but by a condition.'* The machine was absurd. The patent was worthless. The enterprise was a failure. Our money had all been thrown into the sea. Noth- ing could be (lone unless I did it; and I knew nothing of mechanics, of machine design or construction, or of mechanical drawing, except the little that I had picked up in the works of Mott & Ayers while this machine was in process of construction. I should say, how- ever, that the head draftsman in that establishment had given me some instruction in mechanical drawing, so that I knew the use of the instruments and what kind of ink to use. I cannot recollect that I was in the least cast down or dis- couraged. I cannot now account for my confidence. I believed that the fundamental features of this machine were correct. These were: cutting stone by a blow given by a hammer moving in an inclined direction, and which was thrown up by a cam and tlirown down by springs. The more I reflected upon it the more I became convinced that a successful stone-dressing machine could be made on those general lines, and in no other way; and I also became im- pressed with what seems the almost absurd conviction that I could make it. The machine that broke the stone had a broad hammer — a cast- iron plate with tongues on the sides running in grooves in a frame, 6 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES and to the end of which a long steel blade was bolted. My first idea was to divide the single broad hammer into several hammers working side by side and striking their blows successively; the second was to separate the hammers from the tool-holders, the third, to employ the same tools that were used by stone-cutters, namely, the point, tooth-chisel and drove, and to give them as nearly as possible the same blow that was given to them by the workman, and the fourth, to give to the tools only the blow necessary to do their work. I infused my own enthusiasm into my associates to such a degree that they agreed to put up the money and let me try the experiment. That also is something that I now wonder at. The most influential member of this devoted band was Geoi^e T. Hope, President of the Continental Fire Insurance Co., a gen- tleman whom I shall have frequent occasion to mention, and who remained my steadfast friend till his death, which occurred soon after the close of my engineering career. I set about my work in this manner. My house, on the south side of Twenty-second Street west of Seventh Avenue, had been arranged in its construction to use the extension room back of the parlor as a dining-room. That left the front basement avail- able for me. This I equipped for a drawing-office, and set myself at work to learn mechanical drawing, and at the same time to design this machine. I bought a Scotch instruction book, and a sheet of "antiquarian" drawing-paper. In those days all draw- ings were made on white linen paper, and this was nearly the largest size that was made, and cost 75 cents a sheet. My principal drawing-implement was mdia-rubber. As my plans grew in my mind I had to rub out my preceding sketches. I spent a great deal of my time in visiting the large engineering works on the East River— the Allaire Works, the Morgan Works and the Novelty Works— and studying tools and machines and principles and methods of construction. I tried to get my mind saturated with mechanics. I finally succeeded in producing the design, this vertical section of which I have sketched from memory after fifty years. It will be seen that this machine was massive in its construction. This was required on account of the sp)eed — 300 rotations of the George T. Hope INVENTION OF A STONE-DRESSING MACHINE 7 shaft per minute — ^at which I had determined to run it. This was my first employment of high speed. The original model of the machine made 60 strokes per minute. In the machine that broke the stone I had increased the speed to 100 strokes per minute. In designing the successful macliine I made the great jump to 300 revolutions of the cam-shaft per minute. This was done after much study of practical require- ments. I observed carefully the speed of plamng-machines. I My First Mechanical Drawing. Longitudinal Section of my Stone-dressing Machine. had also the opportunity of witnessing the operation of the first wood-moulding machine, and was much impressed by the speed of the rotary cutters and the rapidity with which the work was turned out. I wanted a motion of 40 inches a minute for the stone table, which would make the output of the machine satis- factory; 300 revolutions would give this motion, the table ad- vancing .133 of an inch at each blow. 8 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES The machine contained six hammers, each 6 inches wide and weighing about 200 pounds, which ran in a suspended frame. The front member of this frame was a wrought-iron bar 6 inches square, with a projection on the lower side, as shown. At the ends this bar was first reduced to 5 inches square, the corners rounded to 1 inch radius, and mortised into cast-iron side-bars 4 inches thick, one of which is shown in the sectional view. Beyond these side- bars the wrought-iron bar was turned down to journals 3J inches in diameter, which turned in the heads of large screws, one of which is represented. Beyond these journals it was further re- duced to 2 inches diameter, and the ends threaded. These pro- jections extended through slots in the main framing, and nuts on the outside provided with long handles enabled the whole to be bound fast in its position, when that had been determined. The hammers had two faces; the upper faces struck on this 6-inch square bar, the lower faces struck the backs of the heavy tool-holders. These tool-holders were held in position in the manner shown. At the extreme back end they rocked down- ward upon a heavy cross-bar. At the front they rose against the 6-inch cross-bar. They were made with a heavy hook at the back, which prevented them from coming forw^ard further than the projection at the bottom of this cross-bar permitted. A curved spring held them up to the cross-bar when the weight of the ham- mer was removed. Between the 6-inch cross-bar and the tool- holders and the hammer faces I introduced a sheet of heavy leather belting, which deadened the force of the blow. A stone- cutter uses a wooden mallet to drive the tooth-chisels and droves, because the impact of iron on iron has a disintegrating effect upon the stone, which the stone-cutters call "stunning the stone.'' It produces a vibration in the body of the stone to a depth of perhaps J inch, and, however well the surface of the stone may appear when it is finished, after a while the outside will flake off to the depth to which these vibrations have extended. This leather buffer served the purpose of the wooden mallet, completely avoiding this difficulty. Incidentally also it made the building habitable, by transforming the blow into a dull thud, which at the rate of 1800 blows per minute from the six hanmiers was itself quite important to be done. INVENTION OF A STONE -DRESSING MACHINE 9 The large screws on each side of the machine at the front were provided at the top with long nuts resting on a cross-bar and combined with worm-wheels. A shaft carrying two worms en- gaging with these wheels extended across the top of the machine, so that the nuts were rotated identically, and the front of the suspended frame was raised or lowered as the thickness of the stone or depth of the cut required. The machine could cut stone from the thinnest ashlar up to a thickness of about 3 feet. The hammers ran on rollers as shown. At the back the frame and hammers were carried on similar rollers on the same shaft. The ends of this shaft also turned in square heads of screws, and by a mechanism similar to that already described the back of the frame could be elevated or depressed to the height required and be set at any desired angle. The six tool-holders were made in the following manner: I got from England a bar of steel long enough to make them all. This was planed into the form shown in the section, and the sockets for the shanks of the tools were finished to an equal depth and per- fectly in line. It was then parted, and the ends of each finished in a slotting-machine. ^ The blows struck by the hammers were very effective. The cams had a throw of 1 J inches, but they threw the hammers back against the springs 1\ inches further, making their fall 2^ inches. This I ascertained by holding a piece of thin board edgeways between the upper end of a hanmier and the cross-bar at the back, when the hammer crushed it up to this height. We never ran over the stone with the points but once. They made everything before them fly. On the other hand, the droves merely dusted the surface, to take out the marks of the tooth- chisels. All surplus force in the blow was received on the 6-inch cross-bar. The tools stood motionless unless pushed back by the stone, when they received a sufficient portion of the blow to drive them forward to their position. The feed motion was powerful, being imparted by a worm engapng in a worm-wheel 24 inches in diameter, while the run back was swift, quite 100 feet in a minute. The sides of the steel tool-holders, rubbing against each other, l)ecame after a while badly abraded. I was obliged to plane 10 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES them off and dovetail thin strips of hardened steel into them. These prevented any further trouble. The sides of the end tool- holders, however, which rubbed against the cast-iron side-bars, I observed, were polished without sensible wear. This was a very important observation. These surfaces all rubbed together dry. The pressure was only the side thrust, which was very trifling. Under these conditions the molecules of the same material interlocked, while those of the different materials did not. These two materials were, however, extremely different in their constituent features. Perhaps this point of freedom of sonxe different materials from interlocking was still better illustrated by the set-screws, where this difference of molecular structure did not exist in the same degree. These were made of Ulster iron, a superior quality of American iron then largely used in New York City for bolts. They were f-inch screws, and were also used dry, no oil being allowed anywhere over the stones. Each tool-holder contained three of these set-screws. The outside ones were tight- ened and loosened sixty times every day. The middle ones, where only the points were used, were tightened and loosened twenty times every day and at other times stood loose in their threads. The tool-holders being massive, and the blows of the hammers also coming on the leather cushion, there was no vibration. At the end of the two years' running the outer bolts were all perfect fits. The middle ones were loose, but still held the tools per- fectly. The roUere on which the hammers ran were hardened and turned on hardened shafts. The hammers themselves had chilled faces, and their surfaces running on the rollers were also chilled. The surfaces of the tool-holders and of the bar on which these rocked were provided with hardened strips to the extent that they came in contact with each other. The cams and rollers and their pins were also hardened. When built this machine was found to require only a single alteration. I had welded the cams onto the shaft, the welds being guaranteed by the smith to be perfectly sound. No appearance of unsoundness could be detected when the shaft was finished, but after running a week or two the cams became loose. This also gave me a useful lesson. I was obliged to send to England for INVENTION OF A STONE-DRESSING MACHINE 11 blocks of sted, which were bored, finished and keyed on the shaft in the manner shown, and the working surfaces of the cams were hardened. This required the substitution of new hammers, be- cause the cams could not be threaded through the old ones. The hubs of these cams were 6 mches long, covering the shaft. Our company, being satisfied from its design that the machine when finished woxild prove a success, rented from Mr. Astor a large lot on the south side of Fourteenth Street, west of Ninth Avenue, extendmg through to Thirteenth Street, and erected and equipped a building and established a stone-yard, where the machine ran successfully for two seasons, principally employed in facing ashlar, as the flat-faced stones of buildings are termed. It turned out with ease 600 square feet of finished surface per day, which was the work of thirty men, and it never broke a stone, however thin. For f acmg in the machine the stones were set on bars 2 inches thick and 4 inches high, cast on the surface of sliding tables. These were both longitudinal and cross bars, and were provided with holes f inch in diameter and about 3 inches apart. There were two tables, each 16 feet in length. Several pieces of ashlar were set upon each table and held by dogs and wedges on these bars. They were wedged up very easdly by skilled workmen, so that they would finish at the same level. At one side of the ways on which the tables moved, near each end, was placed a swing-crane, which was double- and triple- geared, so that by means of it any stone that the machine was adapted to cut could be lifted by two men. The operations of cut- ting the stones on one table and removing the stones and setting others on the other table went on simultaneously, so that tlie cutting was never interrupted, except to change the tools and the tables. This last was done as follows: Each table, when the work on it was completed, was run rapidly backward or forward to attach it to the other table. It was then connected with this by a couple of hooks, and^ the motion being reversed, pulled it into place under the tools, and in doing this took its own place under a crane, so that the work of removing the finished stones and setting rough ones went on continuously at one end or the other of the ways. In addition to the machine I designed the building and the / 12 ENQINEERINO REMINISCENT. whole plant and the plan of its operation, which moved like clock- work. I made every drawing myself. The cranes I obtained in Rochester, N. Y., of a pattern which the builders made for railroads for handling heavy freight. I bought from a stone-dressing company that had failed a rub- bing machine called the Jenny Lind rubber, from the fact that it was started the same year in which that songstress was brought to the United States by Mr. Bamum. This rubbing-machine was lt a board on the flange. The worst trouble was from a blunder of my own. My ex- hibition engine had cast-iron valves running on cast-iron seats, and the friction between these surfaces under the steam pressure was so little that it did not injure the governor action appreciably. But I could not let well enough alone. Mr. Lee had told me that in the steam fire-engines they used gun-metal valves on steel seats, which I thought nmst have some wonderful advantages, so at con- sidemble additional expense I fitted up my first engine in the same way. The governor worked very badly. I had the pleasure of demonstrating the fact that brass on steel is the very best combination possible for producing friction. I went back to cast-iron valves, when the trouble disappeared. We had an order for an engine to drive the works of Evan Leigh, Son & Co. Mr. Leigh was quite a famous man, the in- ventor of Leigh's top roller, used universally in drawing-machines. I was told he was the only man then living who had invented an essential feature in spinning machinery. I struck out a new design, which proved quite successful. They wished to give 100 revolutions per minute to their main line of shafting running over- head through the center of their shop. I planned a vertical engine, standing on a bed-plate, which carried also an A frame. The engine-room was located at the end of the shop. The line of shaft passed tlirough a wall-box and then 3 feet further to its main bearing at the top of this upright frame. The latter 104 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES was stayed from the wall by two ample cast-iron stays. The fly-wheel was outside this frame and carried the crank-pin. The shaft was continued quite stiff through the wall-box, with long bearings. By this plan I got rid of gears. Belts for taking power from a prime mover were then unknown in England. The fly-wheel was only 10 feet in diameter, with rim 8 X 10 inches, and was of course cast in one piece. It proved to be ample. The engine was the largest I had yet made, 22 mches diameter of cylinder by 36 mches stroke, making 100 revolutions. I was still tied to 600 feet piston travel per minute. I did not venture to suggest any greater speed than that; could not have sold an engine in Lancashire if I had. I introduced in this engine a feature which I afterwards sin- cerely wished I had not done, though not on my own account. This was a surface condenser. It worked well, always maintain- ing a good vacuum. I shall have more to say respecting this engine later, which will explain my regret about the condenser. I had about this time the pleasure of a visit from two American engineers, Robert Briggs and Henry R. Towne, who were travel- ing together in England, and were at the trouble to look me up. I took them to see this engine, and I am sorry to say they were not so much carried away with the novel design as I was. But if I had the same to do again I do not think I could do better. The last time I saw that engine I found no one in the engine- room. I inquired of some one where the engineer was, and was told I would find him in the pipe-shop. I found him there at work. He told me he had not been staying in the engine-room for a long time, he had "nowt to do,'* and so they gave him a job there. When I went with Ormerod, Grierson & Co., they were deep in the execution of a large order known as the Oporto Crystal Palace. Portugal was behind every other countiy in Europt* in its arts and manufactures.' In fact, it had none at all. At Oporto there was a large colony of English merchants, by whom all the trade of the port was carried on. These had conceived the idea of holding at Oporto an international exix)siti()n, which idea was put into execution. Our finn had secured the contract for all the iron-work for a pretty large imn and glass building, and for the power and shafting for the Machinc^ry Hall. ESGINE FOR THE OPORTO EXHIBITION 105 I was soon called on for the plans for an Allen engine to be shown there. This was to be a non-condensing engine, 14X24, to niake 150 revolutions per minute, and which accordingly was made and sent, with two Lancashire boilers. I went on to attend the opening of the exposition on the first of May, 1865, and see that the engine was started in good shape. I sailed from London on a trading-steamer for Oporto, and on the voyage learned various things that I did not know before. One of these was how to make port wine. I asked the captain what his cargo consisted of. He replied: "Nine hundred pipes of brandy. *' ''What are you taking brandy to Portugal for?" "To make wine." "But what kind of brandy is it that you take from England?'' "British brandy.'' "What is it made from?'' "Corn." By this word he meant wheat. In England Indian com is called maize. I do not know whether "com" included barley and rye or not. We had the pleasure in Oporto of meeting a Portuguese in- ventor. In England there then existed the rude method of an- nouncing at each principal seaport the instant of noon by firing a caimon by an electric current from the Greenwich Observatory. The more accurate method now in use substitutes sight for sound. This inventor proposed planting a cannon for this purpose in an opening in a church tower, of which there were plenty. The hammer, by the fall of which a pill of fulminate was to be ex- ploded and the cannon fired, was to be held up by a string. The rays of the sun were focused by a buming-glass on a point, which at the instant that the sun reached the meridian would roach this string. The string would be bumed off, and the cannon would go off. In the rare case for Oporto of a cloudy day, or if for any reason the automatic action failed, it would bo the duty of a priest, after waiting a few minutes to be sure of the failure, to go up and fire the gun. The enthusiastic inventor urged it on the English. It was thought, however, that the more feeble power of the sun's rays in the higher latitude of England would not warrant the application of this ingenious invention there, and besides neither perforated church towers nor idle priests were available for the purpose. In order to get the full point of the following story it must 106 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES be remembered that at that tune there was not a stationary steam-engine in Portugal. English enterprise and capital had recently built a line of railway between Lisbon and Oporto, and the locomotives on that line furnished the only exhibition of steam ])ower in the country. To the educated classes of the Portuguese, therefore, the steam-engine to be shown at the Oporto Crystal Palace was the object of supreme interest. In one respefct they used to have on the Continent a way of managing these things which was better than ours. The ex- hibitions were completely ready on the opening day. For ex- ami)le, in the French Exposition of 1867, which was the last one I attended, the jurors commenced their work of examination on the day after the opening, and completed it in three weeks. The only exception, I think, was in the class of agricultural ma- chinery, the examination of which had to wait for the grain to grow. No imperial decree could hasten that. So the Oporto Exposition was to be complete in all its departments when the Khig of Portugal should declare it to be open. I arrived in Oporto a week before the day fixed for the open- ing, and found a funny state of afifairs existing in the engineering doj)artinent. A very capable and eflicient young man had been placed by our firm in charge of their exhibit. I found his work finished. The engine and shafting were in running order. Only the boilers were not ready, in explanation of which I heard this .«?tatement: Some time previously an Englishman had presented himself, bearmg a commission, duly signed by the executive officials, constituting him "Chief Engineer of the Oporto Exposi- tion," and demanded charge of our engine and boilers, which were all there was for him to be chief engineer of. Our man very prop- i'Hy refused to recognize him, telling him that he had been placed in charge of this exhibit by its owners, and he should surrender it to nobody. But the new man had a pull. The managers were furious at this defiance of their authority. On the other hand, the guardian of our interests was firm. Finally, after much alter- cation and correspondence with Manchester, a compromise had been arranged, by which our representative retained charge of 'the engine and shafting, and the boilers were handed over to the ''chief engineer." ENGINE FOR THE OPORTO EXHIBITION 107 I was introduced to this functionary, and received his assur- ance that the boilers would be '*in readiness to-morrow." This promise was repeated every day. Finally the morning of the opening day arrived. The city put on its gala attire. Flags and banners waved everywhere. The people were awakened to a holiday by the booming of cannon and the noise of rockets, which the Portuguese sent up by daylight to explode in the air. The King and Queen and court came up from Lisbon, and there was a grand opening ceremonial, after which a royal procession made the circuit of the building. At the hour fixed for the opening the ''chief engineer" was just having a fire started under the boilers for the first time. I was, of course, pretty nervous, but our man said to me: ''You go and witness the opening ceremonies. They will last fully two hours. Attaching a Steam-drum to a Lancashire Boiler. and we shall doubtless be running when you get back." When at their conclusion I hurried through the crowds back to Machinery Hall, there stood the engine motionless. The door to the boiler- room was shut as tightly as possible, but steam was coming through every crevice. I could not speak, but looked at our man for an explanation. "The fool," said he, "did not know enough to pack the heads of his drum-bolts; he can get only two pounds of steam, and it blows out around all the bolts, so as to drive the firemen out of the boiler-room." There was no help for it. The boilers had to be emptied and cooled before a man could go inside and pack those bolt-heads. I must stop here and explain how a steam-drum is attached to a Lancashire boiler, or, at least, how it was in those days. The accompanying section will enable the reader to understand the description. The "drum" was of cast iron. The upper part, not shown, was provided with three raised faces on its sides, to two 108 ENGINEERINO REMINISCENCES of which branch pipes were bolted, each carrying a safety-valve, while the steam-pipe was connected to the third. The manhole was in the top. A cast-iron saddle was riveted on the boiler, and was provided at the top with a broad flange turning inward. This flange and the flange at the base of the drum had their sur- faces planed, and a steam-joint was made between them with the putty. Square bolt-holes were cored in the flange of the saddle, and corresponding round holes were bored in the flange of the drum. The bolts were forged square for a short distance under the heads, so that they would be held from turning in the square holes. These bolts were inserted from the inside of the saddle, and were packed by winding them, under the heads, with long hemp well filled with this putty. As the nut on the outside was tightened the putty was squeezed into the square hole around the bolt, and soon became hard. This packing was what the "chief engi- neer'' had omitted. The reader is now prepared to appreciate the situation. It was not long before the royal procession appeared at the extreme end of the hall, the King and Queen in advance, and a long line of the dignitaries of state and church, with a sprinkling of ladies, following at a respectful distance. Slowly, but in- evitably, the procession advanced, between the rows of silent machinery and mad exhibitors, imtil, arriving near us, the King stopped. An official immediately appeared, of whom the King inquired who was present to represent the engine, or at least I suppose he did, for in reply I was pointed out to him. He stepped briskly over to me, and what do you think he said? I defy any living Yankee to guess. With a manner of the utmost cordiality, and speaking in English as if it were his native tongue, he said: "I am extremely sorry that the neglect of some one has caused you to be disappointed to-day." Me disappointed! It almost took my breath away. Without waiting for me to frame a reply (I think he would have had to wait some time), His Majesty continued cheerily: ''No doubt the defect will be reme- died directly, and your engine will be enabled to run to-morrow.'' Then, looking the engine over quite leisurely, he observed: "It certainly presents a fine appearance. I expect to visit the ex- position again after a few days, when I shall have more leisure. GETTING HOME FEOM PORTUGAL 109 and will then ask you to explain its operation to me." He then turned and rejoined the Queen, and the procession moved on, leaving me with food for reflection for many a day. I had met a gentleman, a man who under the most sudden and extreme test had acted with a courtesy which showed that in his heart he had only kind feelings towards every one. An outside imitation must have been thrown off its guard by such a provocation as that. In reflecting on the incident, I saw clearly that in stopping and speaking to me the King had only one thought, and that was to say what he could to rdieve my feelings of disappointment and mortification. He had evidently been informed that I could not get any steam, and took pains and went out of his way to do this; showing a kindly and sympathetic feeling that must express itself in act and conduct even towards a stranger. I left the next day for England with some new ideas about the "effete monarchies," and with regret that I should see His Majesty no more. One or two observations on the Portuguese peasantry may be interesting. They did not impress me so favorably as did their King. On my first arrival I wished to have the engine turned over, that I might see if the valve motions were all right. The engineer ordered some men standing around to do this. Six of them laid hold of the flywheel, three on each side, and tugged away apparently in earnest. It did not move. I looked at the engineer in surprise. He said, "I wiU show you what is the mat- ter," ordered them all away, and himself puUed the wheel around with one hand. Then he explained: "I only wanted you to see for yourself what they are good for. We have had to bring eveiy laborer from England. These men are on the pay-roll, and spend their time in loungmg about, but no Portuguese man will work. Women do all the work in this country." The exposition buildings were located on a level spot on a hill- top overlooking the river Douro, at an elevation, I judged, of about 200 feet. They wished to surround them with a greensward. Between the heat and the light soil, the grass could be made to grow only by continual watermg, and this is the way they did it. About 400 women and children brought up water from the river in vessels on their heads. All day long this procession was moving 110 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES up and down the hill, pouring the water on the ground, performing the work of a steam-pump and a 2-inch pipe. I went to Portugal without a passport. Our financial partner told me it would be quite unnecessary. He himself had just re- turned from Oporto, where he went without a passport, and found that half a crown given the custom-house inspector on his arrival and departure was all he needed. I understood the intimation that if I got a passport, the fee of, I believe, a guinea would not be allowed me. So, although I went from London and could very conveniently have obtained a passport at the United States lega- tion, I omitted to do it. On landing at Oporto the two-and-sixpenny piece opened the kingdom of Portugal to me quite readily. Getting out, the proc- ess was different. I found that the steamer on which I had come from London would not return for a week or more after the opening of the exposition, and I was impatient to get back. A line between Liverpool and Buenos Ayres made Lisbon a port of call, and a steamer was expected en roiUe to Liverpool in the course of three or four days after the opening; so I determined to come by that. The mommg after the opening I was awakened early by a tele- gram informing me that the steamer had arrived at Lisbon during the preceding night, having made an unexpectedly quick run across the South Atlantic, and would sail for Liverpool that evening. The railroad ran only two trains a day, and my only way to get to Lisbon in time was to take the nme-o'clock train from Oporto. The station was on a hill on the opposite side of the Douro. There was only one bridge across the river, and that was half a mile up the stream from the hotel and from the station. Oporto boasted no public conveyance. So I hired a couple of boys to take my trunk down to the river, row me and it across, and carry it up the hill to the station. I got off with two minutes to spare. On applying at the steamship office in Lisbon for a passage ticket, I was informed by the very gentlemanly English clerk that they were forbidden to sell a ticket to any one without a passport. '' However," he added, '' this will cause you no inconvenience. The United States legation is on the second block below here. I will direct you to it, and you can obtain a passport without any trouble." By the way, how did he recognize me as an American, and how was GETTING HOME FROM PORTUGAL 111 it that I was always recognized as an American? I never could explain that puzzle. On knocking at the door of the legation, it was opened by a colored man, who informed me that this was a fete day, and that the minister was attending a reception at the palace (this was the first time I ever heard of a royal reception in the forenoon) j but if I would call again at three o'clock the passport would be ready for me. So, leaving with huu my address, I left, to amuse myself as best I could till three o'clock. On presentmg myself at that hour I was informed by the same darkey that the minister would not give me a passport; that he had bidden him tell me he knew nothing about me; I might be an American or I might not: at any rate, he was not going to certify that I was. I had got into the coimtry without a passport, and I would have to get out without one for aU him. I inquired if the minister were at home. "Yes, sir," replied the darkey, "he is at home, but he will not see you; he told me to tell you so," and with that he bowed me out and shut the door. I went back to the steamship oflSce and reported my failure to my friend the clerk. He drew a long whistle. "Not see you I What's he here for? He must be drunk; that's it, he's drunk." After a minute's reflection he added: "We must see the Secretary of State; I am well acquainted with him, and he will get you out of this mess directly. If you will kindly wait till I have finished my correspondence, which will occupy me for about half an hour, I will take you to his office. You can amuse yourself with this copy of the Times,'* handing it to me. When we reached the office of the Secretary of State we foimd the door locked. "Oh," said he, "I had forgotten, this is a saint's day, and the public offices are closed. We must go to his house." We found the Secretary at home. I was introduced, and the Eng- lishman told my case, of course in Portuguese. As he proceeded I saw the official brow darken. I woke up to the enormity of my offense. Little kingdom, big dignity. I had defied their laws and corrupted their official. The case looked serious. The Secretary, in fact, foimd it so serious that he did not feel like taking the sole responsibility of its decision, but sent out for two others of His Majesty's advisers to consult with him. The assembling of tnis 112 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES court caused a delay of half an hour, during which I had time to conjure up all sorts of visions, including an indefinite immurement in a castle and a diplomatic correspondence, while the deuce would be to pay with my business at home. Finally the officials sent for arrived. The instant they entered the room I was recognized by one of them. He had accompanied the King to the opening of the exposition the day before, which the pressure of public business or some game or other had prevented the Secretary of State from doing. In fact, he had headed the pro- cession behind their Majesties and so had seen the graciousness of the King's favor to me. He spoke a few words to the Secretary of State, when, presto, everything was changed. The court did not convene, but instead cordial handshaking with the man on whom the beams of royal favor had shone. I left my smiling friends with a passport or something just as good, added my twelve pounds sterling to the account of the ship, and had time before it sailed to eat a sumptuous dinner at the hotel. I was in the land of oliv^es, and ate freely of the imac- customed delicacy, in consequence of which I lost my dinner before the ship was well out of the Tagus and have never cared much for olives since. I was full of wrath against the United States minister, and determined to send a protest to the State Department as soon as I reached Manchester. But there I found something else to attend to and dropped the matter. I read, however, with satis- faction, a few months after, that the item of the salary of th(j minister to Portugal had been cut out of the appropriation bill by the House of Representatives. CHAPTER XI I'rouble with the Evan Leigh Engine. Gear Patterns from the Whitworth Works. First Order for a Governor. Introduction of the Governor into Cotton Mills. Invention of my Condenser. Failure of Ormerod, Grierson &Co. |HE Evan Leigh engine was not quite ready to be started when I left England. On my return I found an unexpected trouble and quite an excitement. The engine had been started during my absence, and i-an all right, but it was found almost impossible to supply the boilers Avith water. Two injectors were required, and two men feeding the furnaces, and everybody was agreed that the fault lay with the engine. The boilers were a pair of Harrison boilers, from which great results had been expected. These were formed of cast-iron globes, 8 inches internal diameter, with 3-inch necks, held together by bolts running through a string of these globes. They were an American invention, and naturally Mr. Luders (who was introducing them in England) and I fraternized. I felt greatly disappointed. I did not then see Mr. Leigh, but had the pleasure of an interview with his son. This young gentleman denounced me in good Saxon terms as a fraud and an impostor, and assured me that he would see to it that I never sold another engine in England. He knew that the boilers were all right. His friend Mr. Hetherington, an extensive manufacturer of spinning and weaving machinery, and who had taken the agency to sell these boilers, had had one working for a long time in company with a Lancashire boiler, and there was no difference in their performance. He finished by mforming me that the engine would be put out as quickly as they could get another. 113 114 ENGIXEERING REMINISCENCES I put an indicator on the engine, and show here the diagrams it took. I could not see that much fault was to be found with those diagrams. Old Mr. Leigh, after looking at them, said nothing, but he did something. He went to an old boiler-yard and bought a second-hand Lancashire boiler, had it carted into his yard and set under an improvised shed alongside his boiler-house, and in two or three days it was supplying the steam for my engine, and all difficulties had vanished. The consumption of steam and coal fell to just what it had been calculated that it should be, and everybody felt happy, except my friend Mr. Luders, who, not- Diagrams from Engine of Evan Leigh, Son & Co. Sixteen Pounds to the Inch. withstanding his grievous disappointment, had never gone back on me, and young Mr. Leigh, who owed me an apology which he was not manly enough to render. Repeated efforts were tried to make the Harrison boilers answer, but the result was always the same, and they were abandoned. And, after all, the fault was largely mine. I did not think of it till long afterwards, and it did not occur to anybody else, not even to those most deeply interested in the boiler. My surface condenser was the cause of all the trouble, and that was why I have to this day deeply regretted having put it in. The oil used TROUBLE WITH THE EVAN LEIGH ENGINE 115 in the cylinder was all sent into the boilers, and accumulated there. It saponified and formed a foam which filled the whole boiler and caused the water to be worked over with the steam as fast as it could be fed in. I have always wondered why the engine, being vertical, should not have exhibited any sign of the water working through it at the upper end of the cylinder. The explanation after all appears simple. The water on entering the steam chest mostly fell to the bottom and little passed through the upper ports. The trouble from oil was not felt at all in the Lancashire boiler. This, I suppose, was due to three causes. The latter hold a far greater body of water, had a much larger extent of evap- orating surface, and far greater steam capacity. I was always sorry that I did not give the Harrison boiler the better chance it would have had with a jet condenser. In this pair of diagrams, which are copied from the catalog :e of Ormerod, Grierson & Co., the low steam pressure, 29 pounds above the atmosphere, will be observed. This was about the pressure commonly carried. The pressure in the exhibition boilers, 75 pounds, was exhibited by Mr. John Hick, of Bolton, as a marked advance on the existing practice. In preparing for the governor manufacture I had my first revelation of the utter emptiness of the Whitworth Works. Iron gear patterns were required, duplicates of those which had been cut for me at home by Mr. Pratt. The blanks for these gears were turned as soon as possible after I reached Manchester, and sent to the Whitworth Works to be cut. It seemed as though we should never get them. Finally, after repeated urging, the pat- terns came. I was sent for to come into the shop and see them. They were in the hands of the best fitter we had, who, by the way, was a Swedenborgian preacher and preached every Sunday. The foreman told me he had given them to this man to see if it was possible to do anything with them, and he thought I ought to see them before he set about it. I could hardly believe my eyes. There was no truth about them. The spaces and the teeth dif- fered so much that the same tooth would be too small for some spaces and coukl not be wedged into others; some woukl be too thick or too thin at one end. They were all alike bad, and pre- sented all kinds of badness. It was finally concluded to make 116 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES the best of them, and this careful man worked on them more than two days to make them passable. The first governor order that was booked was the only cas(» that ever beat me. I went to see the engme. It was a condensing beam-engine of good size, made by Omierod, Gricrson & Co. to maintain the vacuum in a tube connecting two telegraph offices in Manchester, and had been built to the plans and specifications of the telegraph company ^s engineer. The engine had literally nothing to do. A little steam air-pump that two men could have lifted and set on a bench would have been just suitable for the work. They could not carry low enough pressure nor run slowly enough. On inspection I reportal that we should have nothing to do with it. The custom of making whatever customers order and taking no responsibility was first illustrated to me in this curious way. I saw a queer-looking boiler being finished in the boiler-shop. In reply to my question the foreman told me they were making it for a cotton -spinner, according to a plan of his own. It con- sisted of two boilers, one within the other. The owner's purpose was to. carry the ordinary steam pressure in the outer boiler, and a pressure twice as great in the inner one, when the inner boiler would have to suffer the stress of only one half the pressure it was carrying. I asked the superintendent afterwards why they did not tell that man that he could not maintain steam at two different tem- peratures on the opposite sides of the same sheets. He replied : ''Because we do not find it profitable to quarrel with our cus- tomers. That is his idea. If we had told him there was nothing in it, he would not have believed us, but would have got his boiler made somewhere else.'' Perhaps the most curious experience I ever had was that of getting the governor into cotton-mills. There was a vast field all around us, and we looked for plenty of orders. This was the reception I met with every time. After listening to the winning story I had to tell, the cotton lord would wind up with this ques- tion: "Well, sir, have you got a governor in a large cotton-mill?" After my answer in the negative I was bowed out. I early got an order from Titus Salt & Son, of Saltaire, for two large governors FIRST ORDER FOR A GOVERNOR 117 but these did not weigh at all with a cotton-spinner; they made alpaca goods. The way the governor was finally got into cotton-mills, where afterwards its use became general, was the most curious part. A mill in the city of Manchester was troubled by having its governor fly in pieces once in a while. After one of these experiences the owTiers thought that they might cure the difficulty by getting one of my governors. That flew in pieces in a week. I went to see the engine. The cause of all the trouble appeared at a glance. The fly-wheel was on the second-motion shaft which ran at twice the speed of the main shaft, and the gearing between them was roaring away enough to deafen one. The governor was driven by gearing. The vibrations transmitted to the governor soon tired the arms out. I saw the son of the principal owner, and explained the cause of the failure of every governor they had tried, and told him the only remedy, which woiild be a complete one, would be to drive the governor by a belt. That, he replied, was not to be thought of for an instant. I told him he knew himself that a governor could not endure if driven in any other way, and that I had hundreds of governors driven by belts, which were entirely rehable in all cases. ^^But,^' said he, "supposing the belt runs off the pulley." "The consequence," I replied, "cannot be worse than when the governor flies in pieces." AftiT wasting considerable time in talk, he said, "Well, leave it till my father comes home; he is absent for a few days." "No," said I. "if I can't convince a young man, I shall not try to convince an old man." Finally, with every possible stipulation to make it impossible for the belt to come off, he yielded his assent, and I had the governor on in short order, lacing the belt myself, to make sure that it was butt-jointed and laced in the American fashion. More than three years afterwards, two days before I was to sail for home, I met this man on High Street, in Manchester. It was during the Whitsuntide holidays, and the street was almost deserted. He came up to me, holding out both hands and grasp- ing mine most cordially. " Do you know," said he, " that we have increased our product 10 per cent., and don't have half as many broken threads as we had before, and it's all that belt.'' 118 ENGIXEERINO REMINISCENCES The tendency towards the horizontal type of engine, in place of the beam-engine, began to be quite marked in England about that time. This was favorable to the use of the Allen engine. The only thing that seemed wanting to its success was a directly Condenser and Air-pump designed by Mr. Porter. (Cross-section) connected jet condenser. No one believed that an air-pump could be made to run successfully at the speed of 150 double strokes per minute. Yet this had to be done, or I could not look for any considerable adoption of the high-speed engine. This INVENTION OF MY CONDENSER 119 subject occupied my mind continually. When I returned from Oporto, I had thought out the plan of this condenser, and at once set about the drawings for it. No alteration was ever made from the first design of the condenser, which I intended to show with the engine at the coming Paris Exposition in 1867, and which I finaUy did succeed ui showing there, but under very different and unexpected relations. The philosophy of this condenser is sufficiently shown in the accompanying vertical cross-section. A hollow ram, only equal in weight to the water which it displaced, ran through a stuffing- box at the front end of the chamber, and was connected with an extension of the piston-rod of the engine. So the center line of the engine extended through this single-acting ram, which had the full motion of the piston. It ran through the middle of a body of water, the surface of which fell as the ram w^as withdrawn, and rose as it returned. A quiet movement of the water was assured by three means: First, the motion of the ram was con- trolled by the crank of the engine, and so began and ceased in- sensibly. Second, the motion of the ram, of two feet, produced a rise or fall of the surface of the water of only about one inch. Third, the end of the ram was pointed, a construction which does not appear in this sectional view, permitting it to enter and leave the water at every point gradually. Both the condenser and the hot-well were located above the chamber in which the ram worked. The problem was to obtain complete displacement by means of solid water without any admixture of free air, the expansion of which as the plunger was withdrawn would reduce the effi- ciency of the air-pump. To effect this object the air must be prevented from mingHng with the water, and must be delivered into the hot-well first. This was accomplished by two means: First, placing the condenser as well as the hot-well above the air-pump chamber, as already stated, and secondly, inclining the bottom of the condenser, so that the water would pass through the inlet valves at the side farthest from, and the air at the side nearest to, the hot-well. Thus the air remained above the water, and as the latter rose it sent the air before it quite to the delivery valves. Pains were taken to avoid any place where air could be 120 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES trapped, so it i^as certain that on every stroke the air would be sent through the delivery valves first, mingled air and water, if there were any, next, and the solid water last, insuring perfect displacement. I have a friend who has often asked me, with a manner show- ing his conviction that the question could not be answered, "How can you know that anything will work imtil you have tried it?'' In this case I did know that this condenser would work at rapid speed before I tried it. The event proved it, and any engineer could have seen that it must have worked. The only question in my mind was as to the necessity of the springs behind the delivery valves. Experiment was needed to settle that question, which it did in short order. At the speed at which the engine ran, the light springs improved the vacuum a full pound, showing that without them these valves did not close promptly. The following important detail must not be overlooked. The rubber disk valves were backed by cast-iron plates, which effectually preserved them from being cut or even marked by the brass gratings. These plates were made with tubes standing in the middle of them, as shown. These tubes afforded long guides on the stems, and a projection of them on the under side held the valves in place without any wear. They also determined the rise of the valves. The chambers, being long and narrow, accom- modated three inlet and three outlet valves. The jet of water struck the opposite wall with sufficient force to fill the chamber with spray. When the plans for this condenser were completed, and the Evan Leigh engine had been vindicated, I felt that the success of the high-speed system was assured, and looked forward to a rapidly growing demand for the engines. We got out an illus- trated catalogue of sizes, in which I would have put the con- denser, but the firm decided that it would be better to wait for that until it should be on the same footing with the engine, as an accomplished fact. Suddenly, like thunder from a clear sky, I received notice that Ormerod, Grierson & Co. were in difficulties, had stopped payment, placed their books in the hands of a firm of accountants, and called a meeting of their creditors, and the works were closed,. FAILURE OF ORMEROD, GRIERSON & CO. 121 Some of their enormous contracts had proved losing ones. I had made such provision in my contract with them that on their failure my license to them became void. Otherwise it would have been classed among their assets. CHAPTER XII Introduction to the Whitworth Works. Sketch of Mr. Whitworth. Experi- ence in the Whitworth Works. Our Agreement which was never Exe- cuted. First Engine in England Transmitting Power by a Belt. WAS still debating with myself what course to take, when I received a note from Mr. W. J. Hoyle, secre- tary of the Whitworth Company, inquiring if I were free from any entanglement with the affairs of Ormerod, Grierson & Co., to which I was able to make a satis- factory reply. Mr. Hoyle was then a stranger to me. It ap- peared that he was an accomplished steam engineer, and had been employed as an expert to test one of my engines in opera- tion, an engine which we had made for a mill-owner in Bradford. He had been veiy favorably impressed by the engine, so much so as to form this scheme. He had been with the Whitworth Company only a short time, and was struck with the small amount of work they were doing in their tool department; and after his observation of the engine at Bradford, learning of the st()i)pagc of Ormerod, Grierson & Co., it occurred to him that it would be a good thing for his company to undertake the manu- facture of these engines. After receiving my answer to his pre- liminary inquirj^ having Mr. ^^^litworth, as he afterwards told nie, where he could not get away, on a trip from London to Man- chester, he laid the plan before him and talked him into it. I directly after received an invitation to meet Mr. Whitworth at his office, and here commenced what I verily believed was one of the most remarkable experiences that any man ever had. In the course of our pretty long interview, which terminated with the conclusion of a verbal agreement, Mr. Whitworth talked with me quite freely, and told me several thmgs that surprised 122 William J. Hoyle ^^S^i 'hv.' SKETCH OF MR. WHITWORTH 123 me. One was the frank statement that he divided all other tool- makers in the world into two classes, one class who copied him without giving him any credit, and the other class who had the presumption to imagine that they could improve on him. His feelings towards both these classes evidently did not tend to make him happy. Another thing, which I heard without any sign of my amazement, w^as that he had long entertained the purpose of giving to the w'orld the perfect steam-engine. "That is," he explained, "an engme embodying all those essential principles to which steam-engine builders must sooner or later come." This, he stated, had been necessarily postponed while he was engaged in developing his system of artillery, but he was nearing the completion of that work and should then be able to devote himself to it. I cannot perhaps do better than stop here and give my im- pressions of Mr. Whitworth. He was in all respects a phenome- nal man. As an enghieer, or rather a tool maker, he addressed himself to all fundamental constructive requirements and prob- lems, and comprehended everything m his range and grasp of thought, continually seeking new fields to conquer. Long after the period here referred to he closed his long jmd wonderful career by giving to the world the hollow engine shaft and the sys- tem of hydraulic forging. At that time he was confidently antici- pating the adoption by all nations of his system of artillery. He had made an immense advance, from spherical shot, incapable of accurate aim and having a high trajectory, to elongated shot, swiftly rotating in its flight and having a comparatively flat trajectory, and which could hit the mark and penetrate with destructive effect at distances of several miles. These fimda- mental features of modern artillery thus originated with Mr. AVhitworth. All his other features have been superseded, but his elongated pointe;! rotating projectile will remain until nations shall learn war no more; a time which in the gradual development of humanity cannot be far away. Before I left England, how- ever, he had abandoned his artillery plans in most bitter disap- pointment. He had met the English oflScial mind. By the authorities of the war and navy departments it had been xmani- mously decided that what England wanted was, not accuracy of 124 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES aim and penetration at long range, but smashing effects at close quarters. The record of that is to be foimd in the proceedings of the House of Commons in 1868, only thirty-nine years ago. Think of that! Mr. Whitworth was not only the most original engineering genius that ever lived. He was also a monumental egotist. His fundamental idea was always prominent, that he had taught the world not only all that it knew mechanically, but all it ever could know. His fury against tool-builders who improved on his plans was most ludicrous. He drew no distinction between principles and details. He must not be departed from even in a single line. No one in his works dared to think. This disposition had a striking illustration only a short time — less than a year — before I went there. He had no children. His nearest relatives were two nephews, W. W. and J. E. Hulse. The latter was a tool-manufacturer in Salford. W. W. Hulse was Mr. Whitworth's superintendent, and had been associated with him for twenty- four years, for a long time as his partner, the firm being Joseph Whitworth & Company. Lately the business had been taken over by a corporation formed under the style of the Whitworth Company, and Mr. Hulse became the general super- intendent. Mr. Whitworth was taken sick, and for a while was not ex- pected to live, and no one thought, even if he did get better, that he would ever be able to visit his works again. Mr. Hulse had been chafing under his restraint, and during Mr. Whitworth's absence proceeded to make a few obvious improvements in their tools, such, for example, as supporting the table of their shaper, so that it would not yield imder the cut. To the surprise of every one, Mr. Whitworth got well, and after more than six months' absence, he appeared again at the works. Walking through, he noted the changes that had been made, sent for Mr. Hulse, dis- charged him on the spot, and ordered everything restored to its original form. To return now to my own experience. Since Mr Whitworth had been absorbed in his artillery development he had given only a cursory oversight to the tool manufacture. Mr. Hulse had been succeeded as superintendent by a man named Widdowson, whose Sir Joseph Whitworth ..vtRSlTY EXPERIENCE IN THE WHITWORTH WORKS 125 only qualification for his position was entire subserviency to Mr. Whitworth. My drawings and patterns were purchased by the Whitworth Company, and I was installed with one draftsman in a separate office, and prepared to put the work in hand at once for a 12 X 24- inch engine for the Paris Exposition, where Ormerod, Grierson & Co. had secured the space, and the drawings for which I had completed. If I remember rightly, the patterns were finished also. While I was getting things in order, Mr. Widdowson came into my office, and in a very important manner said to me: "You must imderstand, sir, that we work here to the decimal system and all drawings must be conformed to it.'' I received this order meekly, and we went to work to make our drawings all over, for the single purpose of changing their dimensions from binary to decimal divisions of the inch. There was of course quite a body of detail drawings, and to make these over, with the pains required to make these changes to an unaccustomed system, and make and mount the tracings, took us nearly three weeks. When finished I took the roll of tracings to Mr. Widdowson's office. He was not in, and I left them for him. An hour or so later he came puffing and blowing into my office with the drawings. He was a heavy man, and climbing upstairs exhausted him. When he got his breath, he broke out : " We can't do anything with these. Haven't got a decimal gauge in the shop." "You gave me express orders to make my drawings to the decimal system." " Damn it, I meant in halves and quarters and all that, and lorite them decimals.' So all that work and time were thrown away, and we had to make a new set of tracings from the drawings I had brought, in order to figure the dimensions in decimals. He told me afterwards that when Mr. Whitworth commenced the manufacture of cylin- drical gauges he made them to the decimal divisions of the inch, imagining that was a better mode of division than that by con- tinual bisection, and supposing that he had influence enough to effect the change. But nobody would buy his gauges. He had to call them in and make what people wanted. " And now," said Mr. Widdowson, " there is not a decimal gauge in the world." He knew, too, . for up to that time they made them all. So Mr. Whitworth could make a mistake, and I found that this was not the worst one that he had made. 126 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES While time was being wasted in this manner, the subject of manufacturing the governors came up. Mr. Whitworth concluded that he would first try one on his own shop engine, so one was bought from Ormerod, Grierson & Co. I had a message from Mr. Widdowson to come to the shop and see my governor. It was acting in a manner that I had seen before, the counterpoise rising and dropping to its seat twice every time the belt lap came around. "Total failure, you see," said Mr. Widdowson, "and I got a new belt for it, too." I saw a chance to make an interesting observa- tion, and asked him if he would get an old belt and try that. This he did, lapping the ends as before about 18 inches, according to the universal EngUsh custom, which I had long before found it necessary carefully to avoid. As I knew would be the case, the action was not improved at all. I then cut off the lap, butted the ends of the belt, and laced them in the American style, and lo! the trouble vanished. The governor stood motionless, only float- ing up and down slightly with the more important changes of load. Mr. Whitworth was greatly pleased, and at once set about their manufacture, in a full line of sizes. He made the change, to which I have referred already, from the urn shape to the semi-spherical form of the coimterpoise. In this connection he laid the law down to me in this dogmatic fashion : "Let no man show me a mechanical form for which he cannot give me a mechanical reason." But Jove sometimes nods. They were to exhibit in Paris a large slotting-machine. The form of the up- right did not suit Mr. Whitworth exactly. He had the pattern set up in the erecting-shop, and a board tacked on the side, cut to an outline that he directed. He came to look at it every day for a week, and ordered some change or other. Finally it was gotten to his mind, the pattern was altered accordingly, and a new casting made. This was set up in the shop, and I happened to be present when he came to see it. "Looks like a horse that has been taught to hold his head up," said he. "Mechanical reason," thought I, fresh from my lesson. When finished the slotting- machine was tried in the shop, and found to yield in the back. The tool sprang away from its work and rounded the corner. Mr. Whitworth had whittled the pattern away and ruined it. Instead of being sent to Paris, it was broken up. EXPERIESCE IX THE WHITWORTH WORKS 127 My experiment with the governor proved the defect in the English system of lacing belts. Every machine in the land, of whatever kind, tool or loom or spinning or drawing frame, or whatever it was, driven by a belt, halted in its motion every time the lap in the belt passed over a pulley, sufficiently to drop my governor, when the same motion was given to it, and no one had ever observed this irregularity. I thought they would never be ready to set about work on the engine. First, Mr. TViddowson ordered that every casting and forging, large and small, must be in the shop before one of them was put in hand. After this was done I found a number of men at work making sheet-iron templets of everything. I saw one man filing the threads in the edges of a templet for a f-inch bolt. When these were all finished and stamped, an operation that took quite a week, a great fuss was made about commencing work on everything simultaneously. I went into the shop to see what was going on. The first thing to attract my attention was the steam-chest, then made separate from the cylinder. A workman — their best fitter, as I afterwards learned — ^was engaged in planing out the cavities in which the exhaust valves worked. I saw no center line, and asked him where it was. He had never heard of such a thing. "What do you measure from?" "From the side of the casting." I called his attention to the center line on the drawing, from which all the measurements were taken, and told him all about it. He seemed very intelligent, and under my direction set the chest up on a plane table and made a center line around it and another across it, and set out everything from these lines, and I left him going on finely. An hour later I looked in again. He was about his job in the old way. To my question he explained that his foreman had come around and UAd him I had no business in the shop, that he gave him his directions, and he must finish his job just as he began it. I made no reply but went to Mr. Hoyle's office, and asked him if he knew what they were doing in the shop. He smiled and said, "I suppose they are finally makmg an engine for you." "No, they are not." "What are they doing?" "Making scrap iron." "What do you mean?" I told him the situation. He took his hat and went out, saying, "I must see this myself." THE .vERSlTY 128 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES A couple of hours later he sent for me, and told me this. "I have been all around the works and seen all that is doing. It is all of the same piece. I have had a long interview with Mr. Wid- dowson, and am sorry to tell you that we can't make your engine; we don't know how. It seems to be entirely out of oiu* line. The intelligence does not exist in these works to make a steam- engine. Nobody knows how to set about anything. I have stopped the work, and want to know what you think had better be done about it?" I asked him to let me think the matter over till the next morning. I then went to him and suggested to him to let me find a skilled locomotive-erecter who was also a trained draftsman, and to organize a separate department for the engine and governor manufacture, and put this man at the head of it, to direct it without interference. This was gladly agreed to. I found a young man, Mr. John Watts, who proved to be the very man for the place. In a week we were running under Mr. Watts' direction, and the engine was saved. . But what a time the poor man had! Everything seemed to be done wrong. It is hardly to be beUeved. He could not get a rod turned round, or a hole bored round. In their toolmaking they relied entirely on grinding with "Turkey dust." I once saw a gang of a dozen laborers working a long grinding-bar, in the bore, 10 inches diameter by 8 feet long, in the tailstock of an enormous lathe. I peered through this hole when the bar was withdrawn. It looked like a ploughed field. Scattered over it here and there were projections which had been ground off by these laborers. On the other hand, the planing done in these works was magnificent. I never saw anything to equal . it. But circular work beat them entirely. I found that the lathe hands never thought of such a thing as gettmg'any truth by the sliding cut. After that they went for the surface with coarse files, and relied for such approximate truth as they did get upon grinding with the everlasting Turkey dust. Mr. Whitworth invented the duplex lathe tool, but I observed that they never used it. I asked Mr. Widdowson why this was. '* Because," said he, "the duplex tool will not turn round." After a while I found out why. When our engine was finished, Mr. Widdowson set it upon two lathe beds and ran it. Lucky that EXPERIENCE IN THE WHITWORTH WORKS 129 he did. The bottom of the engme bed was planed, and it could be leveled nicely on the flat surfaces of their lathe beds. The fly-wheel ran nearly a quarter of an inch out of truth. He set up some tool-boxes on one of the lathe beds, and turned the rim off in place, both sides and face being out. That, of course, made it run perfectly true. I asked the lathe hand how he could turn out such a job. He replied, ''Come and see my lathe.'' I found the spindle quite an eighth of an inch loose in the main bearing, the wear of twenty or thirty years. He told me all of the lathes in the works were in a similar condition. That explained many things. The mystery of those gear patterns was solved. Every spindle in the gear-cutting machine was wabbling loose in its holes. I can't call them bearings. Now it appeared why they could not use the duplex tools. With a tool cutting on one side, they relied on the pressure of the cut to keep the lathe spindle in contact with the opposite side of its main bearing, and a poor reliance that was, but with a tool cutting on each side, fancy the situation. Then boring a true hole was obviously impossible. The workmen became indifferent; they had no reamers, relied entirely on grinding. I asked, Why do you not renew these worn- out bushings? but could never get an answer to the question. Some power evidently forbade it, and the fact is that no man about the place dared to think of such a thing as intimating to Mr. Whitworth that one of his lathe bearings required any fixing up, or that it was or could be anything short of perfect. He (Mr. Whitworth) had designed it as a perfect thing; ergo, it was perfect, and no man dared say otherwise. Our engine work was finally, as a last resort, done by Mr. Watts on new lathes, made for customers and used for a month or two before they were sent out. Not only in England, but on the Continent and in America, the WTiitworth Works were regarded as the perfect machine-shop. I remember a visit I had at the Paris Exposition from Mr. Elwell, of the firm of Varrell, Elwell & Poulot, proprietors of the largest mechanical establishment in Paris. After expressing his unbounded admiration of the running of the engine, he said, ''I warrant your fly-wheel runs true." After observing it critically, he exclaimed, "Ah, they do those things at Whit- worth's!" 130 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES The fact was Mr. Whitworth had cursed the British nation with the solid conical lathe-spindle bearing, a perfect bearing for ordinary-sized lathes and a most captivating thing — when neio. These hardened steel cones, in hardened steel seats, ran in the most charming manner. But they wore more loose in the main bearing every day they ran, and there were no means for taking up the wear. It came on insensibly, and no one paid any atten- tion to it. The cream of the joke was that people were so fasci- nated with this bearing that at that time no other could be sold in England, except for very large lathes. All toolmakers had to make it. I remember afterwards that Mr. Freeland, our best American toolmaker, who, as I have ajready mentioned, went to England and worked for some years as a journeyman in the Whit- worth Works for the purpose of learning everything there that he could, did not bring back to America the conical bearing. The firm of Smith & Coventry were the first to fit their lathes •with the means for taking up this wear, which took place only in the main bearmg, where both the force of the cut and the weight of the piece were received. They made the conical seat for the back end of the spindle adjustable in the headstock and secured it by a thin nut on each end. This then could be moved backward sufficiently to let the forward cone up to its seat. This made it possible to use the solid bearing, but it involved this error, that after this adjustment the axis of the spindle did not coincide with the line connecting the lathe centers; but the two lines formed an angle with each other, which grew more decided every time the wear was taken up. This, however, was infinitely better than not to take up the wear at all. At that time the Whitworth Works were divided into four departments. These were screwing machinery, gauges, guns and machine tools. The first three of these were locked. I never entered either of them. The latter also, like most works in Eng- land, was closed to outsiders. No customer could see his work in progress. This department was without a head or a drawing- office. It seemed to be running it on its traditions. I once said to Mr. Hoyle, "There must at some time have been here mechanical intelligence of the highest order, but where is it?^' They had occasionally an order for something out of their ancient OUR AGREEMENT SEVER EXECUTED 131 styles, and their attempts to fill such orders were always ruinous^ The following is a fair illustration. They had an order for a radial drill to be back-geared and strong enough to bore an 8-inch hole. Mr. Widdowson had the pattern for the upright fitted with the necessary brackets, and thought it was such a good thing that he would make two. The first one finished was tried in the shop, and all the gears in the arm were stripped. He woke up to the fact that he had forgotten to strengthen the transmitting parts, and moreover that the construction would not admit any- thing stronger. There was nothing to be done but to decline the order, chip ofiF the brackets, and make these into single-speed drills. This I saw being done. Mr. Widdowson told me the following amuang story. The London Times had heard of the wonderful performance of Mr, Hoe's multiple-cylinder press, and concluded to have one of them of the largest size, ten cylinders. But, of course, Mr. Hoe did not know how to make his own presses. His work would do well enough for ignorant Americans, but not for an English Journal. The press must be made in England in the world-renowned Whit- worth Works. Mr. Hoe sent over one of his experts to give them the informa- tion they might need, but they would not let him in the shop. Mr. Hulse told him they had the drawings and specifications and that was all they needed. When the press was finished they set it up in the shop and attempted to run it. The instant it started every tape ran off its pulleys, and an investigation showed that not a spindle or shaft was parallel with any other. They had no idea of the method that must be employed to ensure this uni- versal alignment. After enormous labor they got these so that they were encouraged to make another trial, when after a few revolutions every spindle stuck fast in its bearmgs. Mr. Whitworth, absorbed in his artillery and spending most of his time in London, of course had no knowledge of how things were going on in his shop, of the utter want of ordinary intelligence. I formed a scheme for an appUcation of Mr, Whitworth 's system of end measurement to the production of an ideally perfect divid- ing-wheel. In this system Mr. Whitworth employed what he termed '*the gravity piece.** This was a small steel plate about 132 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES i of an inch in thickness, the opposite sides of which were parallel and had the most perfectly true and smooth surfaces that could bo produced by scraping. The ends of the piece to be tested were perfectly squared, by a method which I will not stop here to describe, and were finished in the same manner. The gravity piece was held fast between two such surfaces. None of the pieces were permitted to be touched by hand while an observation was being made. If now one of these pieces were loosened the mil- lionth of an inch, the gravity piece would slide slowly down. If loosened two millionths of an inch, the gravity piece would __i.«'r 1 1 t m. ..'iIl: tm ' ' J# "55 4 5r. J idR^ "^■■1 V W- Efl V .u 1 .s > I 6 X b I a J < I*. .s > I c J 3 S b Q 6 J a d «2 12 3: o 0) a •a o THE COLT ARMORY 181 Sectional and Side Elevations of One of the Two Pairs of Porter- Allen Engines in the Ck>lt Annoiyi Hartford, Conn, 182 ENQINEERINQ REMINISCENCES joints, all of which I made steam-tight scraped joints requiring no packing. This was a new departure in steam-engine work in this country. I fancied myself an expert in the art, but found out that there was one degree at least that I had not taken. I designed several sizes of surface plates, intended primarily to fit the guide- bars of the engines, and also straight edges 6 feet in length by 2J inches wide. These are represented in the accompanying cuts. I found still working in my governor shop a man named Meyers. He was the best fitter I ever had; had fitted every governor made MCriOH ON TNI LiNC A-» SURFACE PLATE ci^rcicni :P 8IDEVIEW Surface Plates Designed by Mr. Porter. in my shop, the little engine or the parts of it that I took to England, and long before had fitted my stone-cutting machine in Mr. Banks' shop. This man I taught all I knew about the art of producing true planes by the system of scraping, and he produced surface plates and straight edges that seemed to me quite perfect. The following incident illustrates the general intelligence on this subject at that time among skilled workmen in this country. As I was inspecting Mr. Meyers' first work in scraping, my foreman came along, and after observing it quite a while remarked, ''It is my opinion you will never make a proper job of that, till you put it on the planer and take a-Ught cut over it." One day, not long after we started, George Goodfellow walked into my shop. He had come from the WTiitworth works, had been APPEARANCE OF MR. GOODFELLOW 183 foreman there of the upstairs room in which most of the fine scrap- ing on their tools was done. I had a sUght acquaintance with him, but could not remember having been in his room but once, and then only for a minute or two. He had become disgusted with Mr. Widdowson and the way things were going on under his man- agement, and had resigned his position and emigrated to the United States; found out where I was hidmg, I never learned how, and applied to me for a job, which I was glad to give him. I cannot imagine any greater contrast than between Mr. Goodfellow and every other man I met in the Whitworth shops. I had then on hand two orders for standard surface plates and straight edges, one from the Colt Armory and one from Pratt & Whitney. Mr. Meyers had just finished work on these when Mr. GoodfeUow appeared. He had not been at work in the shop but a day or two when he asked me if I had got the cross-wind out of those straight edges. I made him the ignorant answer that they were so narrow the matter of cross-wind had not occmred to me as important, as our planer did very true work. He said nothing, but pulled a hair out of his head and laid it across a straight edge at its middle point. He then inverted another straight edge on it and swung this on the hair as a pivot. It swung in one direction freely, but in the other direction the comers caught and it was revealed that the surfaces were spirals. I gave him the job of taking out this twist. He was occupied about two days in making the three interchangeable straight edges quite true. When finished I tried them with great satisfaction, the test showing also their absolute freedom from flexure. The first swing on the hair pivot was in each direction as if the upper straight edge were hanging in the air. As this was repeated back and forth, I felt the surfaces graduaUy approaching each other, the same increasing resistance bemg felt in each direc- tion of the swing, and finally they were in complete contact. WTiat became of the hair I could not find out. This refinement of truth, so easily attained and demonstrated when we know how, was of course a necessity. I made the engines at that time with the steam-chest separate from the cylinder; so two long steam joints had to be made between cylinder, chest, and cover. I fitted up these standards, both surface plates and straight 184 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES edges, with their edges scraped also to true planes and aU their angles absolute right angles. For this and other purposes I made two angle plates, each face 8 inches square, with diagonal ribs. These were scraped so that when the two were set on a surface plate, either surface of one would come in complete contact with either surface of the other, and also when one or the other was set on its edges. This angle plate also is shown. For our screw-thread work I made a pair of steel 60-degree standards, the truth of which was demonstrated as follows: The outside gauge bemg set up on a surface plate, the inside triangular block set on the surface plate passed through the former in exact contact, whichever angle was up and whichever side was presented. From the cylindrical gauges of Smith & Coventry I made flat inside and outside gauges of steel with faces hardened, reserving the former for reference only. I had wondered why this was not done in England. Presume they have learned the importance of it long ago. We could not advertise — the fact is I was ashamed to; but we had as many orders as we could take with our very limited means of production. Indeed, we had frequent applications which called for engines too large for us to consider them. We had some applications from parties who were short of pov/er, and on measur- ing their engines with the indicator always found that we could supply their requirements by putting in smaller engines. In one case I remember we put in an engine of just one half the size, and requiring but one quarter the weight of fly-wheel, of the one taken out, and gave them all the additional power they wanted, and more uniform motion. This would seem an extravagant state- ment were not its reasonableness proved by the experience of makers of high-speed engmes generally. Sometimes the indi- cator showed ludicrous losses of pressure between boiler and engine. On account of his familiarity with the requirements of more exact construction, I made Mr. Goodfellow my foreman after he had been with me a short time, and he proved to be the very man for the position. He made all my engines in Harlem and after- wards in Newark, and I was largely mdebted to him for my success. FORMATION OF A COMPANY 185 Before the close of our first year Mr. Smith proposed that our business be transferred to a company, to which he would pay in a little additional money, in consideration of which, and of his pre- vious advances to the business, he demanded a controlling interest in the stock. I did not Uke the idea, but Mr. Hope and Mr. Allen favored it, and I consented. So the company was incorporated. Mr. Smith was made its president, and one of his sons was made sec* retary and treasurer. He transferred to this son and also to another one qualifjring shares of his stock, and both were added to the board of directors, that making six of us. The admirable way in which this machinery worked will appear by and by. Mr. Smith proceeded at once to get out a catalogue and build on the vacant lot a new business office, of quite respectable size and two stories high, finishing the second story for Mr. Goodfellow with his family to live in. When this building was ready Mr. Smith installed himself in the office and busied himself in meddling and dictating about the business, impressing me with the great advan- tage of having a thorough business man at the head of it. If I ventured any word on this subject, I always received the sneering reply, "What do you know about business? *' The following inci- dent in thi3 connection may amuse the reader as much as it did me. I may mention in the first place that when, as aheady stated, he with Mr. Hope acquired the entire indicator patents, of which he assumed the individual management and so I always supposed had secured the larger part, the first thing he did was to repudiate my agreement with Mr. Richards to pay to him 10 per cent, of the receipts from the patente, this being a verbal agreement (as all the transaction was), and so Mr. Richards never received another penny. One morning Mr. Smith came into my office and said, "Do you know that the license to Elliott Brothers to manufacture the indi- cators has expired? " I had licensed them only for seven years, not knowing whether or not they would prove satisfactory licensees. "Well," said I, '•suppose it has? " "Would you let them go on without a license?'' he demanded; "that shows how much you know about business.'' "If it were my affair," I replied, "I should not stir it up. I see every reason for letting it alone. It is the business of the licensee, if he feels unsafe, to apply for the exten- 186 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES sion of his license." With a contemptuous sneer Mr. Smith left me and immediately wrote Elliott Brothers, reminding them that their license had expired and requesting an answer by return mail to say if they wanted to renew it. He received the answer that I knew he would, for what good business man ever lets such an opening go by him? They said they were just on the point of writing him that they did not wish to renew unless on very different terms. By the contract they made with me they paid a royalty of £2 on each indicator sold at retail, and £1 10 shillings on each one sold at wholesale. The selling price was £8 10 shillings. They made a lai^e profit on extra springs, of which they sold a great number at 10 shillings each, and which cost them about 2 shillings. They wrote at length on the difficulty of holding the market against the com- petition of cheap indicators selling at £4 (which was just the competition against which the indicator was at first introduced but which had long before ceased to be serious) and closed by saying that if Mr. Smith would agree to accept one half the former royalty, they would themselves make a corresponding reduction in their profits and would be able to put the indicators at a price that would probably make the business satisfactory. Otherwise they would find themselves compelled to discontinue the manufac- ture altogether, which they should do unless they received an affirmative reply at once. Of course they got the afl5rmative reply. Mr. Smith had no alternative. They never reduced the selling price one penny. They had no competition during the life time of the patent, and their sales were enormous. The amount of royalties lost during the remaining seven years of the patent was certainly not less than $35,000. The following is a story with a moral. The moral is, working to gauges is an excellent plan, providing the gauges are mixed with brains. No manufacturing system is perfect that is not fool- proof. If a mistake is possible it is generally made. A company of English capitalists were spending a good deal of money on the west coast of South America in building railroads into and over the Andes. One of these roads was intended to reach a famous silver mine, from which the Spaniards, two or three hun- dred years before, had taken large quantities of the precious metal, WORKING TO GAUGES 187 but which had long ago been drowned out and abandoned. The raihoad was to take up pumping machinery by which the mine could be cleared of water and to bring down the ore in car-load lots. For some purpose or other they wanted a stationary engine in those high altitudes, and their agent in this country ordered one from me. I was having my fly-wheels and belt drums cast by Mr. Ferguson, whose foimdry was on 13th Street, west of Ninth Avenue, some seven miles distant from my shop in Harlem. He had a wheel-lathe in which I could have them turned and bored, and they were bored to gauges and shipped direct to their destinations. This time I had two wheels to be finished, so I sent the gauges with a tag attached to each describing the wheel it was for, but neglected to go and make a personal inspection of the work. Some months after I received a bitter letter from South America, complaining that they found the wheel had been bored half an inch smaller than the shaft, and that they had to chip off a quarter of an inch all around the hole where the barometer stood at 17 inches, and physical exertion was something to be avoided. The case was somewhat relieved by the fact that I always cored out a larger chamber in the middle of the hub for the purpose of getting rid of a mass of metal which would cause the hub to cool too slowly, fin- ishing only a length of two inches at each end of the hub, which was 10 or 12 inches long. As the engine had been paid for on ship- ment and ran well when put together, there was no great harm done, but I was sorry for the poor fellows who had to do the work. Except the one already mentionerl in my first governor pulley, ten or twelve years before, this was the only misfit I can recall in my whole experience. Mr. Ferguson told me the best piece- work story I ever heard. He said he had a contract for making a large number of the bases for the columns of the elevated railroad; these castings were quite large and complicated. He gave the job to his best molder, but the man could turn out only one a day. He thought it was slow work and spoke to him about it, but he protested that was all he could make. Mr. Ferguson found he could never complete his contract at that rate, and as he was paying the man three dollars a day, he told him he would pay him three dollars for each perfect casting and asked him to do his best and see how many 188 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES he could turn out. The man employed a boy to help him, and by systematizing his work he turned out six perfect castings every day and drew his eighteen dollars with supreme mdifference. This is a big story to swallow, but the incident was then recent. I had the story from Mr. Ferguson himself, and he was a sterling, reliable man, so that there could be no doubt as to its absolute truth. CHAPTER XVII Mr. Allen's Invention of his Boiler. Exhibition at the Fair of the American Institute in 1870 ■^HHpr that time the ''Field boiler tubes" were attracting M^^H considerable attention in London. These were de- Ifal^B signed to prevent the water from being lifted from HHBiS the closed bottom of vertical tubes over the fire> which would cause them to be burned out. The Field tubes were smaller internal tubes, provided at the upper end with three wings which centered them in the middle of the external tubes, in which they reached nearly to the bottom. They were made slightly beU-mouthed at the top. The circulation was down the internal tube and upwards, through the annular space. The bell mouth prevented these currents from mterfering with each other. One morning Mr. Allen said to me that he had an idea that by inclining the tubes at a small angle from the vertical a better circulation would be got than in the Field tubes. He thought the steam as fast as formed would all go to the upper side of the inclined tubes, and would rush up along that surface with- out driving the water before it, and so the water would always be at the bottom of the tube, no matter how hard the boiler was fired. I was struck with the idea and determined to test it. I got the largest test-tube I could find, 1} inches in diameter and 15 inches long, and set it in an adjustable support, and applied the flame of four Bunsen burners, bunched together, at the bottom. In a vertical position the water was instantly thrown clean out of the tube. At about the angle of 20 degrees Mr. Allen's idea was completely realized. The bubbles of-steam united in a continuous stream on the upper side and rushed up with no water before them. 189 190 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES With the most rapid generation of steam the water remained solid at the bottom of the tube. The sight was a very interesting one. I reasoned that if this satisfactory result was got under a short colunm of water, and only the pressure of the atmosphere and in a small tube, it could certainly be relied upon under a column of water several times longer, under a pressure of several atmospheres and in a much larger tube. The greater the pressure the smaller the bubbles of steam would be. Those formed under one atmos- phere were about as large as kidney beans. Mr. Smith was anxious to have us exhibit the engine at the Fair of the American Institute in New York in the fall of 1870. This Institute was then at the height of its usefubiess, and its annual fairs were crowded with exhibits and attracted wide atten- tion. Mr. Allen and I consulted about it, and on account of the liability of getting more hot water than steam from the queer boilers that might be exliibited, we agreed that, as the engine would have to be tested for economy, it would not be safe to exhibit unless we could make a boiler according to Mr. Allen's plan to supply the steam. With this boiler we could certainly get dry steam, and felt confident of getting it superheated. Our reconmiendation to that effect was adopted, and we pre- pared to exhibit two engines, one of them 16 inches diameter of cylinder by 30 inches stroke to make 150 revolutions per minute, and the other 6 inches in diameter by 12 inches stroke to make 300 revolutions per minute, and a boiler. We also made to drive our own shop, to take the place of the portable engine and boiler, an engine of the smaller size above named, except that the cylinder was, by thickening its walls, made 5 inches in diameter only. This was because this size would be ample for the power we required, and I would be able to show the effect of inertia of the heavy reciprocating parts in producing smooth and silent running, much better than with a 6-inch cylinder, which would have about 50 per cent, larger area with no greater weight in the reciprocating parts, except only in the piston. This exhibition, as we shall see, became of great importance. We made also an Allen boiler for ourselves, of four sections; really, as it proved, three or four times as large as we needed, but we could not well make it smaller. This exhibition at the American Institute was in every respect MR. ALLEN'S INVENTION OF HIS BOILER 191 a great success, not a drawback of any kind about it. The little engine was used by Merrill & Sons to drive their exhibit of forging machinery, hammers and drops. The large engine gave motion to a miscellaneous exhibit of machinery in motion. The exhibi- tion of machinery in motion closed each day for an hour from 12 to 1, and again from 6 to 7, but I ran these engines continuously from 9 A.M. to 10 p.m., to show that high speed asked no favors. There were five boilers, including our own, from the start. The other four were smaller than ours. Another boiler, the largest of all except ours, was started later, as will be told. Ours had a brick flue and chimney, but only 30 feet high. Those of the others were iron. There were a number of other engines and pumps and pulsometers, aU steam eaters. It was found impossible to keep up steam. It fell to half pressure every day before stopping time came. One morning, about a week after the opening, on my arrival my friend Mr. Lee, who was superintendent of the machinery department, came to me and said, "Do you know what they are aU saying about here?" "No," I repUed. "Well," said he, "you ought to know. It is that your engines use all the steam, and your boiler does not make any, and that is where all the trouble is." I replied: "I am ready for them. You see that valve up there. I put it in expressly to meet whatever questions might arise. By closing it I can shut my system off from the general steam connections and run my two engines from my own boiler, and wiU try to get on without their assistance." So a ladder was brought and I went up and shut the valve. Directly my pressure rose to 70 pounds, the pressure allowed; my automatic damper closed as nearly as it was permitted to do, and the steam began to blow off. To prevent this, the fireman had. to set his door a little way open, and in this condition we ran all day. In the rest of the show the steam ran down until at noon there was barely 15 pounds pressure, but the wrath of the exhibitors of machinerj'^ driven by other engines was blowing off. After the noon hour the additional boiler was started and helped them a good deal, so that, starting with 70 pounds at 1 o'clock, at 5 o'clock they still had 25 pounds pressure. Mr. Lee asked me several times during the day to open the 192 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES valve and I refused to do it. Finally, at about 5 o'clock, he said to me, "If you don't open that valve, I shall." "WeU," said I, ** there will be a number of the managers of the Institute here at this hour, I presume, and if you will send for them and have them come here and see the state of the case for themselves then I will open the valve." So this was done. Half a dozen of these gentle- men came and made an inspection of the boilers and said to me: "We are quite satisfied. It is evident that you have been supply- ing most of the steam and using very httle." So I opened the valve and there was no further trouble. The assistance of the large boiler added that day prevented any serious fall of pressure afterwards. A few days after the above incident a committee of the man- agers waited on me and said: "We have heretofore had a good deal of trouble with our steam supply, and would like next year to have a boiler that we can rely upon. What will you ask to leave this boiler here for our use next season? " I agreed with them for three hundred dollars, and so the boiler remamed for the next exhibition, when there will be something more to be said about it and views of it will be shown. That winter Bamum win- tered his animals in that building, and paid me three hundred doUars more for the use of the boiler to warm it. In my ignorance of business these items of good luck came in very handy. Mr. Allen said he never heard of a new thing so successful from the start. The remark respectmg my exhibit of engines and boiler at the fair of the American Institute n 1870, that there was not a draw- back of any kind about it, must, however, be qualified in one re- spect. I was not able to run my 16X30 engine at the speed of 150 revolutions per minute, as I had intended. A blunder had been made in the size of the driven pulley on the line of shafting. It was smaUer than specified, because the contractor for the shafting put on a pulley he had, and this was not observed till we were running, when it was too late to change it. The exhibitors of machinery in motion all complained that their machines were running too fast, and after two or three days the directors ordered me to reduce the speed of my engme to 125 revolutions per minute, at which speed it was run through the MB. ALLEira INVENTION OF RIS BOILER 193 rest of the fair. I was much disappomted, but consoled myself with thinking that perhaps this speed would please the general public better than the higher one, the engme even then being three or four times too large for its work. The boiler gave me at the engine steam superheated 23 d^rees all the time. This I proved by transposing the thermometers. I had two thermometers, duplicates, one on the steam-chest and the other on the first boiler drum, in which the steam was not superheated. The former indicated 23 degrees higher tempera- ture. When these were exchanged the same difference continued to be shown. I was greatly interested in observing in my own and other en- gines the relative amounts of initial cylinder condensation, as this was shown in the steam blown from the indicator stop-cocks. I had one of these on my steam-chest, and the steam blown from this was not visible until three or four inches above it. That blown from the stop-cocks on my cylinder had a very little tinge of white, showing the superheating to have been lost and a sUght initial condensation to take place. As the piston advanced, the blowing steam became invisible, showing re-evaporation, through the falling of the boiling-point on the expansion. On other engines, of which several were exhibited, the observa- tion showed large amounts of initial condensation. From one of them I remember the blowing steam looked like a white painted stick. I observed that the steam only lost three degrees of its super- heat in passing through 25 feet of 6-inch pipe from the boiler to the engine. For this comparison I placed a thermometer on the second steam drum, in which the steam was superheated, where it showed about 26 degrees of superheat. This measured the rate at which the heat was lost through the felt covering of the pipe, and suggested an excellent method of comparing the protective value of diflferent coverings under absolutely the same condi- tions. The superheating of the steam for our own engine was not affected by the connection of our steam-pipe with those of the other engines. The explanation of this phenomenon seemed to be that as our boiler generated far more steam than our own 194 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES engines required, the current was always from our pipe into the connected pipes. I was here first made alive to the enormous waste of steam in the feed-pumps, a separate one for every boiler, including our own. In these the steam has to follow fuU stroke, at a pressure sufficient, on the larger area of the steam piston, to overcome the pressure in the boiler. Moreover, the extreme heat interval between the temperatures of the entering and the exhaust steam and the slow Diagram from Allen Engine, back end of cylinder, at Fair of American Institute, 1870. motion, permitting the walls of cylinder, heads and piston to be cooled very deeply by the exhaust, produces the condensation of probably from five to ten times as much steam as is usefuUy em- ployed, differing according to the rate of piston motion. I began to rather admire the practice of the English, who knew nothing about boiler feed-pumps, except those on the engine, and I cer- tainly wonder that the genius did not arise long before he did, who first thought of exhausting the feed-pump into the feed-water THE FAIR OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE IN 1870 195 under atmospheric pressure only, so returning to the boiler all the heat received in the pump that is not converted into the work of overcoming the boiler pressure and the atmospheric resistance or lost in external radiation. The above diagram represents the performance of this engine in its regular work. It shows distinctly the compression curve, the points of cut-off and release, and the back pressure required to expel the exhaust. It will be seen that the expansion fell to 5 pounds below the atmosphere. I have added to it a line repre- senting the waste room in ports and clearance, and the theoretical expansion curve plotted according to the law of Mariotte, showing the expansion terminating 2.5 pounds above this curve, from the re-evaporation already noted and the heat abandoned by the steam as the pressure fell. After the close of the fair this engine was run on several days, under a variety of loads applied by a Prony brake, in the presence of a number of engineers and others who had been invited to wit- ness the trials. Of the diagrams taken on these trials, I find that I have preserved only the two here shown, namely, a single friction diagram from the back end of the cylinder, on a scale of 20 pounds to the inch, and a diagram showing large power, taken from the front or crank end, on a scale of 24 pounds to the inch. The former shows the trifling loss from friction in this engine. I have measured this card, and find the mean effective pressure, or difference between the areas showing the excess of the forward over the back pressure, to be 1.1 pounds on the square inch, which, assuming the opposite card to be equal with it, was the friction of the engine. The exhaust line shows the power required to reverse the direction of motion of the exhaust, which at the end of the stroke was rushing back into the cylinder. The latter is especially interesting as showing the identity of the expansion curve with the theoretical, three points on which are marked by the crosses. The sharp reaction of the indicator while the crank was passing the dead center will also be observed. After this trial I made a careful comparison of the diagrams taken under the different loads with the friction diagrams, and found the imiform results to be that the friction diagrams sub- tracted from the diagrams taken under the load left in each 196 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES case, of six different loads, exactly the same effective work done that was shown by the brake. Scale 80 Friction Diagi-am from Allen Engine at Fair of American Institute, 1870. Diagram from Allen En^e, Fair of American Institute, 1870, cutting off at i stroke. From this I concluded that in these engines the use of the friction brake is unnecessary; the friction is sensibly the same under all loads, and the friction diagram only needs to be sub- THB FAIR OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE L\ 1870 197 tracted to learn from the diagram the amomit of effective work done. The verdict of the judges, President Barnard of Columbia College, Thomas J. Sloane, the proposer of the gimlet-pointed wood screw, now in universal use, in place of the flat-ended screws formerly used, and inventor of the special machinery required for their manufacture, and Robert Weir, engineer in the Croton Aqueduct department, may be summed up in the single expres- sion from their report, "The performance of this engine is without precedent." For its success I was largely indebted, first, to the remarkable circulation and steam-generating power of the boiler, and, second; to the superheating of the steam in the second drum. CHAPTER XVIII Demonstration to the Judges of Action of Reciprocating Parts. Explanation of this Action. Mr. Williams' Instrument for Exhibiting this Action jHE subject of the equalizing action of the reciproca- ting parts of the engine was not considered in the report of the judges. Indeed, the speed of that engine, 125 revolutions per minute, was not suffi- cient to develop this action to any important extent. But there was another reason behind that. I invited the judges directly after the close of the fair, but before making their report, to witness a demonstration of this action in my little shop engine, which invitation was accepted by them, and the following ex- hibition was made, but this was not alluded to in their report, the reason of which will be given on a later i^age. The engine had a 5-inch cylinder by 12 inches stroke, and its regular speed was 300 revolutions per minute. I kept Satur- day afternoon holiday, one of the good things I had brought from England, and so on Saturday afternoon I had a clear field for this exhibition. I had previously prepared two governor pulleys to speed the engine up to the increased speeds required, which speeds had been ascertained by calculation. I was so certain of the correct- ness of this calculation that I did not make any preliminary trial, did not think of such a thing. After running the engine for a short time at its usual speed, I changed the governor pulley for the smaller one of the two I had prepared, by which the speed would be increased to about 400 revolutions per minute, and loosened the crank-pin brasses 80 that they were slack fully a thirty-second of an inch. On 108 President V. A. P. Baknard EXPLANATION OF THIS ACTION 199 starting the engine in this condition, of course, it pounded vio. lently on the crank-pin. As the speed was gradually permitted to increase the knock softened, and just before the governor rose it disappeared entirely, and at the calculated speed the engine ran in entire silence. After running in this manner for a while I prepared for the second part of my show. I put the crank-pin brasses back to their usual running adjustment, loosened the brasses of the cross- head pin fully a thirty-second of an inch, and put on a larger governor pulley, which, if I remember rightly, ran the engine at about 550 revolutions per minute. Under these conditions we utilized only the inertia of piston, rod and crosshead, without that of the connecting-rod. On starting, the engine of course pounded heavily on the cross-head pin. As the speed increased the same decrease in the noise -was observed as on the first trial, only later in the course of the acceleration, and again just before the governor rose the pounding had completely died away, and at the calculated speed the engine ran again in entire silence. Like everything else, this action seems mysterious until it comes to be understood, when it is seen to be quite simple, as the follow- ing explanation will show. EXPLANATION OF THE ACTION OP THE RECIPROCATING PARTS OP A HORIZONTAL STEAM J.NGINE Let US take a horizontal engine of 2 feet stroke, making 200 revolutions per minute, so having a piston travel or average velocity of 800 feet per minute, which was my engine in the Paris Exposition of 1867. We will suppose the piston to be driven through the crank, by which its motion is controlled, the power being got from some other motor, and that the cylinder heads have been removed so that the piston meets no resistance. We will also disregard the effect of the angular vibration of the connecting-rod, and assume the motion of the piston to be the same at each end of the cylinder. On each stroke the crank does two things: First, it increases the motion of the piston from a state of rest to a velocity equal to the uniform velocity of the crank-pin in its circular path; and. 200 ENOINEERINO REMINISCENCES second, it brings the piston to rest again, ready to have the same operation repeated in the reverse direction during the return stroke. At the mid-stroke the crank is at right angles with the line of centers, and the velocity of the piston is 800Xj;r= 1256.64 feet per minute, or 20.944 feet per second, and no pressure is being exerted on the piston either to accelerate or retard its motion. The pressure of the crank during a stroke, first to impart motion to the piston and second to arrest this motion, is represented by two opposite and equal triangles. Let the line AB, in the above figui ?,, be the center line of a cylinder and its length represent the length of the stroke. Let the line AC, normal to the line AB, represent the force required to start the piston from a state of rest. Then the triangle AOC will represent the accelerating force that must be exerted on the piston at every point in the half stroke to brmg up its velocity, until at this equals that of the crank-pin in its circle of revolution, and the accelerating force, diminishing uniformly, has ceased. The opposite equal triangle BOD shows the resistance of the crank required to bring the piston to rest again. How do we know this? I will answer this question by the graphical method, the only one I know, and which I think will be understood by readers generally. First, we observe that the distance the piston must move from the commencement to any point in the first half of its stroke, in order that it shall keep up with the crank, is the versed sine of the angle which the crank then forms with the lino of EXPLANATION OF THIS ACTION 201 centers. So the table of versed sines tells us where the piston is when the crank is at any point in its revolution, from to 90°. For example, let the quadrant AB in the following figure repre- sent the path of the crank, and the line AO that of the piston. Let OF be the position reached by the crank. AOF is the angle formed by the crank with line of centers, and supposed to be OOP. FE normal to AO is the sine of this angle, and AE the versed sine. The latter is the distance traveled by the piston from the point A, and is .5, the length of the crank being 1. Secondly, we ascertain how far the piston must advance for every degree or minute or second of the revolution of the crank in its quadrant by merely subtracting from its versed sine that of the preceding one. Thus the versed sine of 60° being .6, and that of 59° being .4849619251, the difference .0150380749 is the motion of the piston, or its mean velocity while the crank is traversing the 60th degree of its revolution. Thirdly, we want to know the rate at which the motion of the piston is accelerated during any interval. This acceleration is foimd by subtracting from the motion during each interval that during the preceding one. For example, the motion of the piston during the 60th degree being, as al- ready seen, .0150380749, and that duriAg the 59th degree being .0148811893, the difference between them, .0001568856, is the acceleration or amount of motion added during the 60th degree. By this simple process we find the acceleration of the piston during the first degree of the revolution of the crank to be .0003046096, and that during the 90th degree to be .0000053161. But this latter is the amount by which the acceleration was reduced during the preceding degree. Therefore at the end of this degree the acceleration has ceased entirely. Now, by erecting on the center line AC, at the end of each degree, ordinates which are extensions of the sine of the angle, and the lengths of which represent the acceleration during that degree we find that these all terminate on the diagonal line CO. Thus, when the crank has reached the 60th degree, and the piston 202 EXGINEERING REMINISCENCES has advanced half the distance to the mid*stroke or to E, Fig. 32, the acceleration during the 60th degree has been .0001523049, or one half of that during the first degree. But how do we know the amount of the accelerating force exerted by the crank at the beginning of the stroke? This ques- tion is answered as follows : We find that for the first three degrees the accelerating force is, for the purpose of our computations, constant, the diminution not appearing until we have passed the sixth place of decimals. Let us now suppose the crank 1 foot in length to make 1 revo- lution per minute, so moving through 6^ of arc in 1 second. At this uniform rate of acceleration the piston would be moved in 1 second the versed sine of 1° .0001523048X62 = .0054829728 of a foot. A falling body uniformly accelerated by a force equal to its own weight moves in 1 second 16.083 feet. Therefore this imiform stress .0054829728 on the crank is * — T^i^}:^ — = .000341, which is the well-estabUshed lo.Uo.i coefficient of centrifugal force — the centrifugal force of one pound making one revolution per minute in a circle of one foot radius. So we find that the height AC of this triangle represents the centrifugal force of the reciprocating parts which, in any case, we can ascertain by the formula WRr^'C, W being the weight of the body; R being the length of the crank; r being the number of revolutions per minute, and C being the coefficient .000341. This accounts for the fact that the reciprocating parts are per- fectly balanced by an equal weight revolving opposite the crank. In my treatise on the Richards Indicator and the Develop- ment and Application of Force in the Steam-engine, I have given a full exposition of this action here briefly outlined, and to that the reader is referred. I have only to add that this computation is for horizontal engines. In vertical engines the effect of gravity must be con- sidered, adding on the upward stroke and deducting on the down- EXPLANATION OF THIS ACTION 203 ward stroke. Also the counterbalance in the crank-disk of vertical engines must be limited to the horizontal fling of the crank end of the connecting-rod, and all balancing must be as nearly as possible in the same plane. In this respect double-crank engines have this advantage, that one half of the coimterweight can be put on each side of the center line. It is evident that the heavier the reciprocating parts and the more rapid the speed the greater the security for smooth and silent running. However loose the brasses and however sudden the impact of the steam on the piston, and however early or late the admission, there can be no sound or jar, if the inertia of the reciprocating parts is sufficient to equal the force of the entering steam, and if this is in excess it can do no harm. It is also evi- dent that under these conditions at any point in the stroke the change of pressure to the opposite side of the crank-pin is made insensibly. Sc»me two or three weeks after this exhibition I received a note from President Barnard asking me to call upon him. On my responding to this invitation, he said to me that he had listened to my exposition of this action before the Polytechnic Club of the Institute, but he did not imderstand it; he had witnessed the experiments with my shop engine, but while he could not ques- tion the action in silencing all knock on the centers, still he did not understand it, and not until he investigated the problem in his own way by the method of the calculus did it become plain to him, and he could not see how I had ever been able to arrive at the exposition of the action without employing that method. This explains why the subject had not been considered in the report of the judges. President Barnard afterward kindly gave me a copy of his demonstration, to insert m my book on the Richards Indicator. It seems appropriate to insert here the following letter received long after from a very prominent engineer of that day. "Long Branch, N. J., Aug. 7th, 1872. ''Mr. Chas. T.Porter: *' My dear Sir: Since I had the pleasure of reading the paper which you read before the Polytechnic Club last winter, I have 204 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES regarded your demonstration as not less original than subversive. It is, for the first time I believe, apprehended and asserted, not merely that the vis inertia of the reciprocating masses is not primarily an adverse element in the economy of the crank-engine, but that a certain amount of weight in the piston and its con- nections, and in high-speed engines a very considerable amount, is an absolute theoretical necessity. ''As this will be deemed rank heresy by folks who have been making skeleton pistons of wrought iron, it is well perhaps that you are entrenched at the outset behind the experimentum crvcis of loose brasses. " Very truly yours, "Joseph Nason." The following figures represent an elegant invention of Mr, Edwm F. Williams, which exhibits graphically the acceleration and retardation of the reciprocating parts of an engine. In these views, A is the cross-head in its mid-position; B is the lath by which the paper drum of an indicator is actuated through the cord n. The lower end of this lath is fixed in its position on the cross-head by the stud j, on which it turns freely. y is the end of a vibrating arm, which permits the point of suspen- sion of the lath B to fall below the position shown, as required in the motion of the cross-head on account of the lower end of the lath being so fixed, d is a cylindrical box, partly open, which is secured on the side of the cross-head, in a position parallel with motion, by the arm P. The end of this arm is on the stud j, inside the lath B. It is prevented from turning on this stud by the set- screw K, and its fixed position is further assured by the stud r. In the box d is the cylindrical weight A, running freely on rollers, not shown, and bored to receive a spring e, of known strength. This spring is secured in two heads, one of which is screwed into the box and the other into the weight. The force required to move the weight h is thus applied to it through the sprmg. The operation of this instrument is as follows: The cross-head bemg at its mid-stroke, as represented, has acquired its full velocity. At this point no force is being exerted, either to impart or to arrest its motion. The same is the case with the free weight h. No pressure is here being exerted, either to compress or to elongate the spring e. Joseph Nason 1-31TY >-4'>'^ EXPLANATION OF THIS ACTION 205 Flg*1 rPn / tt b ^ p -" 4 r mM Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Apparatus for Graphically Showing the Acceleration and Retardation of the Reciprocating Parts of an Engine. 206 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES Let the motion be in the direction from the crank. The crank now begins insensibly, by pulling through the spring e, to arrest the motion of the weight h. This pull will increase in intensity to the end of the stroke, when the weight is brought to rest, and the spring will become correspondingly elongated. Then, by a continuance of the same pull, the crank puts the cross-head and this free weight in motion in the reverse direction. This pull gradually relaxes, imtil at the mid-stroke it has ceased. The weight h has acquired its full velocity again; all stress is ofif the spring, and the sprmg and weight are back in the positions in the box d from which they started. This action is repeated during the opposite half of the revolution, but in the reverse direction, the pull being changed to a push, and the spring being compressed instead of elongated. Thus at every point the position of this free weight shows the amount of the accelerating or retarding force that is being exerted upon it at that point, elongating or compressing the spring. This varying accelerating or retarding force is recorded as follows : A paper 6, Fig. 2, is stretched on the surface //. This surface is the arc of a circle described about the center j, and is secured on the lath B, so that as this lath vibrates by the motion of the cross-head the different points m the length of the paper pass successively \mder the pencil. This is set in the end of the long arm a of the right-angled lever-arms 4 to 1 seen m Fig. 2, which is actuated by the rod e passing centrally through the spring and secured in the head c. This pencil has thus imparted to it a transverse motion four times as great as the longitudinal motion of the weight h in the box d. The pencil is kept lifted from the paper (as permitted by the elasticity of the arm a) by the cord m. By letting the pencil down and tummg the engine by hand, the neutral line x, Fig. 2, is drawn. Then when the engine is running, on letting the pencil come in contact with the paper, the diagonal lines are drawn as shown on Fig. 2. If the rotation of the shaft were uniform and there were no lost motion in the shaft or connecting-rod, this diagonal line would repeat itself precisely, and would be a straight line modified by the angular vibration of the connecting-rod. On the other hand, these lost motions and the variations in the rotative speed Edwin F. Williams O- THE .NiVERSirr or MR, WILLIAMS' INSTRUMENT FOR THIS ACTION 207 must be exactly recorded, the latter being exhibited with a degree of accuracy not attainable by computation and plotting, and their correctness would be self-demonstrated. For this purpose this instrument must be found highly valuable, if it is really de- sired to have these variations revealed rather than concealed. Fig. 5 represents the mertia diagram drawn by this instnmient applied to a Porter-Allen engine nmning in the Boston Post Office at the speed of 265 revolutions per minute. Fig. 4 shows the same diagram with the transverse motion of the pencil enlarged to correspond with the scale of the indicator, so exhibiting the force actually exerted on the crank-pin at every point, which is represented by the shaded area, and from which the rotative effect on the crank can be computed. The steam pressure ab- sorbed at the commencement of the stroke by the inertia of these parts is represented by the blank area above the atmospheric line OCX. This IS not all imparted to the crank at the end on account of the compression. I have myself had no experience in the use of this instru- ment, but I do not see why it might not be so made that the diagonal line or lines m Fig. 4 would be drawn at once. The variations of motion would thus be shown much more accurately than they can be by the enlargement of these small mdications. This would require the spring e to bear the same relation to the inertia of the weight h that the spring of the indicator bears to the steam pressure on its piston area. The steam diagram and the inertia diagram would then be drawn to the same scale. A separate instnunent would be required for each scale. It would seem desirable that this instrument, which is not expensive, should be brought before the public in this practical shape. . ITie 16"X3(K' engine exhibited at this fair of the American Institute was sold from the exhibition to the Arlington Mills, at Lawrence, Mass. For a reason that will appear later, I have always regarded this sale as the most important one that I ever made. CHAPTER XIX Boiler Teste in Exhibition of 1871. We Lose Mr. Allen. Importance of Having a Business Man as President. Devotion of Mr. Hope jjHE next year we were not exhibitors at the Institute fair, but our boiler remained in its place and was run by the Institute. This boiler and its setting are shown correctly in the accompanying reproduction of a drawing made about that time, except that it consisted of nine sections instead of six. At the close of the exhibition a boiler test was made by the Institute, through a committee of which Professor Thurston, at that time Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the Stevens Institute, aftci-w^ards until his death Director of the Sibley College of Mechanic Arts, in Cornell Uni- vei-sity, was the chairman. Five boilers, including the Allen boiler, were tested, one on each day, in a continuous run of twelve hours. The four besides our own were all different from the boilers exhibited the year before. A week was spent in preparation for this test. A large wooden tank was constructed, in which was built a surface condenser, consisting of a pile of sections of the Root boiler, laid horizontally, havmg a total of 1100 square feet of cooling surface. The steam was exhausted into the pipes which were surrounded by the cool- ing water, thus reversing the construction of surface condensers. Each boiler was tested by setting its damper and its steam- valve wide open, so burning all the coal that could be burned by it imder its draft, and delivermg freely all the steam that it made. This latter entered the condenser at the top, and the water formed by condensation was drawn off at the bottom, while the con- densing water entered the tank at the bottom and was drawn oflf 208 Professor Robert H. Thurston OF BOILER TESTS IN EXHIBITION 209 at the top, the currents of steam and water being thus opposite to each other, which was an ideal construction. The condensing water at a temperature of 45.5 degrees flowed in under the pressure in the city main and was measured in a Worthington meter, and the temperature of the overflow taken. The con- densed steam was drawn ofiF into a barrel and weighed, 300 pounds at a time, and its temperature taken. This method was an excel- lent one. Not having high chimneys, no boiler had a strong draft, as shown by the coal burned per square foot of grate. Our draft was the strongest of all. Only the Allen boiler and the Root boiler gave superheated steam, and the competition between them was very close. The valve being wide open, giving a free current into the condenser, the superheat of our steam fell to 13.23 degrees Fahrenheit. Root's superheat was 16.08 degrees. Root's boiler, the trial of which occupied the first day, blew steam from the open try-cock, from water at 46 degrees Fahrenheit, in sixteen minutes from lighting the fire. Next morning our boiler blew steam from water at the same temperature, in twelve minutes, and Mr. Root holding his watch could not resist the ejaculation, ''Wonderful boiler!" The Allen boiler, burning 13.88 pounds of coal per square foot of grate per hour, evaporated one cubic foot of water per hour from each 17.41 square feet of heating surface. Root's boiler, burning 11.73 pounds of coal per square foot of grate per hour, required 23.59 square feet of heating surface to evaporate one cubic foot of water per hour. Our stronger draft, 13.88 against 11.73, accounted for 3.2 pounds of the above superior evaporative efficiency, leaving 3 pounds to be accounted for by the more rapid circulation in the Allen boiler. The great value of the incUnation of the tubes was thus established. The report contains this sentence: "The Committee desire to express their appreciation of the excellent general arrangement and proportions which gave to the Allen boiler its remarkably high steaming capacity.'* The reader will observe in the plan of this boiler the pains taken to maintain as far as possible parallel currents of the heated gases through the boiler, and taking the flues off at the 210 ENQlNEEmSG REMIXISCENCES 525 i O •wnij *)«9q iodng •ni«9ig '08a«ii9siQ ^iSiDSibb CO CO CO CO CO o o a o o »8 -OOpUOO JO J9>«^ •pwj 1-40000 o • CO^ CO 00^ 0)i0^0'4« 'UOIfMfUl 'pO)«Iod«A9 JOtVJl O) pOtDUd a99«M JO OI)«H *JO)«ii pamu J 'nTB9)S •P«»J •aiqifsnqmoQ ITOO ■osMsjins 09«j8 o) aovjjns 8ui)«9q jo oi)«H •ovjjns 8a!)«9H -aovjjnfl a)«i9 I '^o'o'o'p'o* OOcococo o«oo» s§« SeocD 0cieooieo»^ •Jnoq Jad aovjjns a^«j8 JO ^ooj ajvnbs jaj *aiqi)flnq -cnoo JO paiiod jaj l«oo JO panod ia j *aiqi)snqaioo p panod jad s^ian pn^X 8*^osco c^Qoadoodd .cocoNdM ..^cDcoad^ *s)ian prauaq? qs^ug i«»oi co^cooco ioooSSS r«coOelBCle. 7 13 8^ 700 35 6 400 8880 10 •• ^ 16 SBO 746 45 80 660 8530 13 do«W«. • 16 .746 60 75 6 700 8860 12 •• 10 30 . 380 766 75 100 UOO 8610 14 •• 11.5 30 380 766. 100 135 6 1460 3870 14 •• 13 34 300 800 130 160 6 2100 4084 18 •• 11 .S 34 300 800 lOO- 300 3860 4400 90 •' 16 30 165 836 300 300 4000 4150 96 •• 18 30 165 835 360 380 4000 4670 30 ? 90 36 140 840 330 400 10 6000 4400 88 •• 23 36 .140 840 400 600 11 6000 4840 42 ••. 34 43 136 875 480 830 13 36 43 135 875 660 730 13 38 48 113.8 900 670 870 16 33 48 113.5 900 870 1140 36 48 113.5 900 1100 1430 40 48 113.5 900 *S? 1760 44 48 113.5 900 1800 •ilOO The powers are thoee given by an Initial preesnre of 85 lbs. on tbe square Inch, cut off at 'about one quarter of the stroke. For the best economy steam should not be cut off earlier than this, unless a higher preesure is carried. At the latest point of cut off. the powers developed are double those given In the above Table. The engines can be worked under. locomotive pressures, with cor leepoadlDg Increase oC power. After considerable study I finally adopted the above table of standard sizes and speeds, covering the ground from 25 horse- power up with nineteen sizes. As the bed could tiot be reversed, I needed both a right-hand and a left-hand bed for each size. I avoided half of this expense 232 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES in patterns by planning two diameters of cylinders with the same stroke, and nu^dng one bed answer for both. Until I foimd something else to do, I employed myself in pre- paring complete drawings for three or four smaller sizes of engines; a work which afterwards proved exceedingly useful. CHAPTER XXI Production of an Original Surface Plate WILL btroduce here a description of the method of producing an original surface plate. The production of mechanically true planes by the method of scraping was first suggested by Mr. Whitworth, and was brought to perfection in his works. Having had and having improved the opportunity there to study this system, and having employed it largely in the manufacture of high-speed engines, it seems to me that an account of it should find a place in these reminiscences, especially as the importance of mechanical truth is coming to be more and more realized in this country. I will therefore describe the process of producing an original standard surface plate. The first point, of course, is the design. The square form, 30 inches square, has been found most suitable. I could not, how- ever, use this form myself, a long surface plate being required for the guide-bars and steam-chest joints of my engine. The plate must be incapable of deflection. To insure this it is ribbed on the under side with ribs seven inches deep, and is supported at three points, equidistant from each other and from the center, so that its equal support cannot vary, whatever may be the surface on which it stands. It is provided on two oppo- site sides with handles, by which it can be lifted and rotated. The arrangement of the ribs and feet is here shown. It must be cast of hard and close-grained iron, which will possess the most durable qualities, in a baked mold without a cope, so that the gas shall escape most freely. As cast, the plate should be one inch thick. About three eighths of an inch is planed off, 233 234 ENOINEERINQ REMINISCENCES removing all dirt, and leaving a perfectly sound surface, with a thickness of about five eighths of an inch. Three of these plates are made. After these have been planed, their edges squared and steel handles put in they are delivered to the fitter. o[^ Surface Plate for Producing a True Plane. I will first describe the tool used m scraping. Originally this was a hooked tool, and the scraping was done by a drawing motion. Two of these tools were employed, one for the roughmg work, in PRODUCTION OF ORIGINAL SURFACE PLATE 235 which the hook projected downward about three quarters of an inch, and the other for fine scraping. In the latter the hook pro- jected downward only about one quarter of an inch, and absolute freedom from vibration was aimed at. These tools were used for a number of years, but aftei-wards a radical chang3 was made. The modern method iff to employ a single straight tool, like a carpen- ter's chisel, about an inch and a quarter wide and an eight of an inch thick, with a square end. This end is slightly curved, and its comers are rounded to avoid scratching the plate. The scrap- ing is done by a pushing motion. This tool has been found preferable on all accounts. Projec- tions needing to be removed are in front of the tool, instead of being covered by it. The tool is perfectly rigid, and can be inclined to the surface at any desired angle. The cutting edge is a square angle, and being well supported keeps sharp for a considerably longer time than when it is an acute angle, and when ground or honed two edges are formed. Moreover, the pushing motion is preferred. Two of the plates only are first brought together. For disclos- ing the high points, one of these is covered with a raddle made of finely sifted red lead and oil. This is made quite stiff, and all of it that can be removed by the palm of the hand is rubbed off, leaving only a very thin imiform film on the surface. Any dust having been carefully removed from both surfaces by a soft brush, one of these plates is inverted on the other, and at one comer each plate is marked in the edge with a prick-pimch. The upper plate is then mbbed about on the lower one for, say, half a minute. When lifted off, the high portions of the surfaces are shown on one plate by the raddle put on, and on the other by that rubbed off. The workman then gives to these parts of the surfaces a general scraping, giving to his tool a long sweep, say from four to six inches. This is repeated two or three times, the stroke being shortened each time, and the upper plate being placed m a position at right angles with its last one, which can be determined by the prick-punch marks. This change of position is necessary to avoid a cross-wind or spiral form. The scraping should now ex- tend over the entire surfaces, and these should have a general uniform bearing on each other, with the pomts of contact imi- 236 ESQINEERING REMINISCENCES formly distributed and equally distinct. The work should be continued in the same way until all these requirements are fulfilled. Now appears the use of the third plate. The two surfaces thus formed are sure to be, one of them convex and the other concave, in some corresponding degree. The workman now numbers the plates, by numbers stamped in the edges, these being marked Nos. 1 and 2, and the third plate No. 3. No. 2 is now set aside, and No. 3 is scraped to fit No. 1. It is thus made a duplicate of No. 2. Next, No. 1 is set aside and Nos. 2 and 3 are brought to- gether. Supposing these to be convex, they will bear together at the middle point, on which the upper plate will rock, and the degree of their convexity will thus be shown. The workman then in the same manner scrapes these plates equally to the best of his judgment, until their entire surfaces are brought together, with equal dis- tribution of the points of contact. These two surfaces will now again be, one convex and the other concave, though in a much less degree. The next step is to apply No. 1, which is concave, to either No. 2 or No. 3, and scrape it to fit. It is then applied to the other, of which it has now been made a duplicate, and the same process is repeated, imtil the three plates can be interchanged in any way, and will have a imiform general bearing on each other, with equal distribution and distinctness of the points of contact. We have thus, in a general way, produced three demonstrated true planes, but the surfaces are yet far from the desired approxi- mation to absolute truth. Now follows the fine scraping, which is not attempted until general truth has thus been established. The object of this is to multiply the points of contact and perfect their equal distribu- tion and prominence. For this operation no raddle is used, but the surfaces are rubbed together dry. When the plates are sep- arated, the points of contact shine like stars. Here skill and care are pre-eminently required. The scraping takes off only a dust. If too strong depressions may be made deeper than before, and requiring the reduction of the entire surface. The superiority of the modem tool is now especially ?hown. By lowering the angle of the tool, the workman presents the slightly curved edge to the surface in a position as nearly parallel w ith it as he desires. Interchanges similar to the former ones are now repeated, until PRODUCTION OF ORIGINAL SURFACE PLATE 237 the bright points are brought as close together as is desired, with uniform distribution and distinctness. The tedious operation is now finished, and these bright points remain as witnesses. The three plates were necessary to the production of one. They have also a permanent use. They are indispensable to the preser\^ation of the true plane, which it has cost so much patient labor to produce. The date of their completion is stamped on their edges. Then plates 1 and 2 are put away in the store-room, their surfaces carefully protectal from rust or injury, which last is best avoided by inverting one on the other, and No. 3 is put into use. A prominent use is for the production of smaller plates or straight-edges adapted to special purposes. After a while, per- haps in a little while, this plate loses its truth by unequal wear. Indeed, speaking with absolute truth, it may be said that the first time this plate is used it is ruined. But by taking pains to use different parts of its surface as equally as possible, it may be kept in fair condition for some time. It can at any time be restored to its original condition by scraping it to No. 2, taking the same pains to turn it one quarter way around at every rub. In the course of time No. 2 will itself become worn unequally, when its truth can be restored by rubbing it on No. 1. Finally the three plates can all be restored to their original condition by rubbing them together interchangeably as at first. Thus the true plane can be absolutely perpetuated. The importance of this work can only be realized when we consider that the true plane affords the only means by which true cylindrical work also can be either produced or verified. It is thus seen to be fundamental to all mechanical truth. CHAPTER XXII Efforts to Resume the Manufacture. I Exhibit the Engine to Mr. Holley. Contract with Mr. Phillips. Sale of Engine to Mr. Petens j|N the years 74 and 75 I was filled with eagerness to get the engine on its. legs again, and tried a number of schemes in vain. One morning I read in the paper that Alexander L. Holley had just returned from Europe, where he had been making a tour of the steel- making establishments, studying both the Bessemer and the open hearth or Siemens-Martm processes, on a scheme of interchangmg improvements in manufacture between American and foreign licensees under both these systems. It occurred to me that Mr. Holley might be the very man I wanted. If he could be got to recommend the engine to the steel- makers, they might take it up for their own use. I had not applied the engine in rolling-mill work, but felt sure that it would prove especially adapted to that service. So I called on Mr. Holley at his home in Brooklyn. I had never before met him, but I found that he knew somethmg about the engine from its exhibition in Paris, and from his brother-in-law, Frederick J. Slade, then an officer of the New Jersey Steel Company, and who was one of the engine's warm admirers. I have already mentioned Mr. Slade and the help he gave me while in Paris in solving the problem of piston acceleration. So I found no difficulty in arranging with Mr. Holley to take a trip with me, and visit some of my engines in operation, for the purpose of forming a judgment as to its suitability for the use of his clients. This he agreed to do as soon as he had finished the report of his trip, on which he was then engaged. Our inspection 238 I k \ ^ Alexander Ltman Holley O^ THE •IIVERSITY OF ^A .■FOF^*^ CONTRACT WITH MR. PHILLIPS 239 took in the engmes running m New York and Brookljni and vicin- ity and in New England, finishing with the engine at the Arlington Mills m Lawrence. They were all found to be on their best be- havior, but Mr. HoUey told me that the engine at Lawrence, which was running there at its intended speed of 150 revolutions per minute, impressed him more than all the rest put together; not that it was doing any better, for they all ran equally well, but solely because it was larger. It made him awake to the great possibilities of the engine. On his return Mr. HoUey prepared a report on the performance of the engine, and cordially endorsed it as sure of ultimate general adoption. But he found capitalists to be absolutely dead. Not even his great influence could awaken in them the least interest. The time for the promoter had not yet come. And still my suc- cess in winning Mr. Holley's support proved to be vital to my subsequent progress. As a last possible resort I finally thought of Mr. Phillips of Newark. The firm of Hewes & Phillips had become dissolved by the death of Mr. Hewes, and so, by purchase of Mr. Hewes' interest from his heirs, Mr. Phillips was the sole proprietor of the largest engineering works in New Jersey. That concern had some time before the death of Mr. Hewes given up the manufacture of steam- engines, a style made by them having proved unsuccessful, and confined themselves to making machine tools. In this line their business was exceedingly dull, being disastrously affected by the depressed and stagnant condition of the times. I found Mr. Phillips ready to listen to me. He said that what he knew about the engine was favorable, although he had not heard of it for the last two or three years, but he was willing to consider a proposition to take up its manufacture. I told him frankly that I had no proposition of that kind to make. I wished to get the manufacture of the engine revived, but to retain the busi- ness in my own hands, to carry it on myself in my own name, with the view of gaining for the engine a reputation that would enable me to command the capital necessary to establish its manufacture in works that I had long before planned for that purpose, and in which I could devote myself to the development and building up of the business; that I hoped to be able to reach this point in the 240 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES course of two or three years, when probably the anticipated financial revival would fill his works with business in his own line of tool- making. He said that my proposal was entirely inadmissible, that he could not permit any independent business to be carried on in his establishment, and stated firmly the impossibility of any arrange- ment of the kind I suggested, which would be something quite unheard of. I stood firmly on my own position, but was obliged to leave him without any sign of yielding on his part. The negotia- tion was, however, renewed, exactly how I cannot now recall, but it ended m my carrying my point. We finally concluded a bar- gain, in which I held onto the business, but, of course, had to insure to him pretty much all the profits. This I did not mind, my object was to obtain a position, whi:.*h it will be seen I fully accomplished, but did not know what to do with it. I was con- scious that I could never have made this arrangement but for the extreme stagnation of the times; but was not aware of an addi- tional reason which impelled Mr. Phillips to agree to my terms, when he found he could not do any better. What this reason was will appear pretty soon. The arrangement was to go into effect as soon as I got an order. This was my next job. I learned that Mr. Peters, a manufacturer of high-grade knit fabrics m Newark, all which, by the way, were sold by him to importers in New York, was carrying on also a manufacture of light oilcloths in Newark in temporary quarters, and was building a large structure for this purpose m East Newark, the building now and for many years past occupied by the Edison lamp manufactory, and was in the market for an engine. I called on Mr. Peters, and got from him the privilige of submitting an estimate for this engine. For this purpose I went to his then present works, and measured the amount of power he was usmg, and found that one of my 8x16 engines would give him that power with the additional amount he wished to provide for. On calling with my estimate early one morning, I found Mr. Peters ready to bow me out. He told me that he had been informed that the highnspeed engines had proved a failure, and the manufac- ture of them had been abandoned three or four years ago. I said SALE OF ENGINE TO MR. PETERS 241 to him, "Mr. Peters, I would like to make you a proposition." He replied that he would hear it. I then said, "Your engineer, Mr. Green, I suppose never saw a high-speed engine, but he strikes me as a fair-minded, cool- headed man. I have three engines made by me in Harlem, and which have been running from four to six years, two in New York and one at the J. L. Mott Iron Works at Mott Haven. These can all be visited in one trip. I propose that you send Mr. Green to see them in operation, and talk with the engineers and owners and learn all about them, and that you suspend your decision until you get his report." "That is a fair oflFer," said he. "I will send him to-day." I called again the next day, and found Mr. Peters ready to throw the order into my hands. Mr. Green told me after- wards what his impressions were. In the most cool manner, entirely free from any excitement, he said: "My only wonder is that everybody does not use this engine and that all builders don't make it. I got the same report everywhere. Would not have anything else. C!osts less money, occupies less space, bums less coal, needs less attention, never cost a cent for repairs, never anything the matter, never varies its speed." And so I began business in Mr. Phillips' shop, where I con- tinued for four years, the most delightful period in my active life. I had Mr. Goodfellow in his old place as my foreman, and three or four of my best men back again at the work they loved. Every- thmg went smoothly and harmoniously, and the business grew steadily until the orders thrust upon me became larger than I could have filled if I had had the whole works to myself. In re-introduc- ing the engine to the public, I determined to change its name. I had been asked occasionally what I had to do with the Allen engine. It struck me that I had a good deal to do with it. Starting from Mr. Allen's single eccentiic link motion, and four- opening equilibrium valve and my own governor, I had, with the help which I have been happy to acknowledge, created the high- speed engine, had solved every problem, theoretical and practical, which it involved, and designed every part of it. So I felt it to to be proper that it should thereafter be known as the Porter- Allen engine. The following mcident illustrates the ease with which every- 242 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES thing down to the smallest detail may unconsciously be prepared to insure a disaster at some time. Mr. Peters* engine-room was a long, narrow room on one side of the boiler-room, from which was the only entrance to it directly opposite the guide-bars of the engine. The door opened inward, and the latch was not very secure. They burned soft coal, which was wheeled in on an elevated plank and dumped into a heap in front of the furnace. One day, about a year after the engine was put in, there was a great wind blowing. A gust of unusual force blew the engine-room door open at the instant when a barrowful of coal was being dumped, and carried a cloud of its dust over the guide-bars. The engine was soon brought to a standstill. All the faces of cross- head and guide-bars were deeply scored. It was found, however, that when these were cleaned up and scraped over to remove all projections that they ran as well as ever, the grooves proving good oil distributors, but they were not so pretty to look at. One day, two or three weeks after we commenced work on this engine, Mr. Phillips* bookkeeper came to me and said: ''Mr. Peters'^ engine is contracted to be running on the first of May, is it not?" "Yes." ''Do you think it will be ready?" I replied that the work was in a good state of forwardness, and I thought most likely it would be running before that time. I should say that was a size for which I had made the revised drawings already, and the old cylinder pattern had been readily altered to the new style. "Well," said he, "Mr. Phillips is a little short to-day, and he would be much obliged if you would give him your note for a thou- sand dollars to come due, say, the fifteenth of May." So I gave him the note, the engine was ready on tune, accepted and paid for, and the note met at maturity. This was the beginning of a imiform process, which continued for four years. It was disclosed that Mr. Phillips' financial position was the same as my own, neither of us had a cent of money. The way we managed was this. I always afterwards required payments in instalments, one quarter with the order, one quarter when the engine was ready for shipment, and the balance when running satisfactorily. Thus with my notes we got along famously. My orders were always from first-class parties, engines always ready SALE OF ENGINE TO MR. PETERS 243 on time, always gave satisfaction, and promptly paid for. I had many thousands in notes out all the time, and never had to renew a note. Mr. James Moore of Philadelphia, the celebrated builder of rolling mill machinery, once long after remarked to me, "I keep my bank account in the shop." It occurred to me that I had always done the same thmg. Directly after we got running I received a letler from William R. Jones, superintendent of the Edgar Thompson Steel Company, running a rail mill recently started at Braddocks by Carnegie Brothers, saying that they were in need of an engine to drive a circular saw at a very high rate of speed to cut off steel rails cold. They had been recommended by Mr. HoUey to get one of mine, and if I could furnish a suitable engine immediately he would order it. Fortunately I could. While I was building engines in Harlem, the city of Washington, D. C, went into the system of wooden pavements, and the contractor obtained an engine from me for sawing up the blocks. About the very time I received Mr. Jones' letter I had learned that the wooden pavement system was being abandoned in Washington for asphalt and the sawing-mill was closed. I at once wrote to the contractor making him an offer for the engine. I received by return mail a reply accepting my offer, and adding most complimentary words concerning the engine. These I remember closed by saying that his admiration of it was such that if he were able he would put the engine in a glass case and keep it there as long as he lived The engine proved just right for Mr. Jones' use. I went myself to Braddocks to see it started. All were much interested in the governor action, I as much as any one, for I had never before seen this particular appUcation of it. In sawing through the head and web and bottom flange of the rail, the width of section being cut varied continually, and the gentle rising and falling of the coimter- poise, adjusting the power to the resistance, while the engine kept, so far as the eye could detect, a uniform motion, had about it a con- tinual fascination. The success of this engine brought me several orders for governors, the most important of which was one from Mr. Jones himself for governors and throttle valves for his bloom- ing mill and rail-mill engines. I got up for him balanced piston valves which operated perfectly. In iron valves and seats of this 244 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES character it had been found, where the steam contained primed water, that their edges wore rounded, and their action in regulating the motion became less and less satisfactory. I knew that these boilers primed badly, and avoided this defect by setting bra^s rings in the edges. The following illustrations show this regulating valve which I designed and made in two sizes. The brass liner fqr the lower seat was passed through the upper seat by being made thinner than the upper liner. Those for the valve were made J inch too long, and guttered in the lower edge. They were then driven down by a set and sledge on an anvil. By going aroimd them three times the lower edges were spread out to fill the chamfer, and the flanges brought down to their seats. Those for the lower valve were put in in halves. Mr. Porter's Regulating Valve. William R. Jones CHAPTER XXIII Experience as Member of the Board of Judges At the Philadelphia Gentennial Exhibition day in April I was surprised to receive by mail a commission as a member of the Board of Judges in Group Twenty of the Philadelphia International Ex- hibition. I was at a loss to know how I got it, but learned afterwards that I had been appointed on the recom- mendation of Mr. HoUey, who was consulted by the commissioners about the judges in several groups. The exhibition was opened on May 1, but the judges were not to assemble until the 24th, and on that day we had quite a ceremony in the judges' hall. The American judges were seated at one side of the hall and rose to receive the foreign judges who filed in from some place where they had been corralled, while a fine band played the national airs of all nations that had any airs. After a time spent in welcoming and responsive addresses, we were marched to a large caf6 and given limcheon, after which the different groups were organized. There I had the pleasure of first meeting Mr. James Moore, also Professor Reuleaux of Berlin and Colonel Petroff of St. Petersburg; and Emil Brugsch the interesting Egyptian commissioner, also serving as a judge in our group. I observed that these foreigners used the English language, more accurately than I did. We organized by the election as president of Horatio Allen, formerly president of the Novelty Iron Works (then extinct), he being the oldest and the biggest man among us. Under Mr. Allen's admin- istration we had a fine illustration of how not to do anything — of endless preparation and never getting to work. He had an interminable series of subjects for discussion and was accustomed 245 246 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES to say: "These questions must be all settled before we can enter upon the discharge of our duties, gentlemen." This had the effect upon our foreign judges that they absented them- selves from our meetings. I remember Mr. Moore saying to me: "Porter, if you and I had had this work to do we would have had it half done by this time." Directly after that Mr. Moore resigned, ostensibly pleading want of time to attend to it, but really dis- gusted at the waste of time. Our work was in a state of chaos. The field was very extensive, as it embraced all exhibits pertaining to steam and water except locomotives. One morning I came to the meeting with a copy of the catalogue on which I had divided the exhibits into three classes, lettered A, B, and C: class A em- braced steam-engines and their accessories, class B boilers and their accessories and class C pumps and their accessories; I had prefixed these letters to the names of all our exhibits according to their class. At this meeting, at which I had procured the attend- ance of the foreign judges, this classification was unanimously adopted, and the judges formed themselves into these classes accordingly. Our work was then undertaken in earnest; it was found to be really too extensive to be accomplished otherwise. Mr. Charles E. Emery was appointed a judge to fill the vacant place made by Mr. Moore's resignation, and he proved most effi- cient. As is well known, medals were not awarded, but brief writ- ten reports were made on those exhibits which were deemed most deserving; these reports were signed by all the judges. The firm of E. P. Allis & Co. of Milwaukee, exhibited a saw- mill. This exhibit consisted of two large circular saws, each driven by a horizontal engine. The two engines were united by a common shaft on the ends of which the cranks were set at right angles with each other. The center lines of these engines were nearly 20 feet apart; the shaft carried two belt drums 8 or 10 feet in diameter, one of them near to the bed of each engine; at the middle of the shaft was a fly-wheel about 16 feet in diameter. The rim of this fly-wheel was in eight or ten segments, with an arm attached to the middle of each segment; the segments were bolted together and the arms were bolted to a hub on the shaft. The saws were set behind the cylinders, and the belts were carried from the drums on the shaft past the cylinders to smaller drums Professor Francis Reuleaux THE PHILADELPHIA CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION 247 on the saw arbors. On starting these engines the two bearings of the main shaft heated so badly that the engines had to be stopped. The gentleman in charge of the exhibit applied to me for advice. ' I told him that although his shaft was large it was long, and the weight of the fly-wheel bent it so much that the two journals ran on the inner edges of their bottom boxes, which caused the heatmg. I told him he did not need the fly-wheel at all; the cranks being quartering, the momentum of the belt-drums was amply sufficient to maintain imiform motion, and I advised him to take off the fly-wheel. This he did at once, leaving only the hub on the shaft; the engines then ran with cold bearings and imiform motion throughout the exhibition. They had made a cut-off- gear for these engines, but it was found not to suit the purpose and was taken off. This firm then did a great stroke of business : they came to the sensible conclusion that they could do a great deal better than to attempt to work out a new system of engineering for them- selves, so they offered to Mr. Edwin Reynolds, the manager of Mr. C!orliss' works, and to his head draftsman, inducements sufficient for them to leave Mr. Corliss' employment and take the same positions in the Allis works at Milwaukee for the manufacture of the Corliss engine there. With the magnificent result of this action the engineering world is familiar. We had all sorts of queer experiences. One day I was de- manded by Mr. Jerome Wheelock to tell him why the engine exhibited by him was not a perfect engine. I glanced over the long slender bed, a copy of the Corliss bed without its rigidity, and declined to answer his question. Mr. Emery was more com- pliant; on receivmg the same demand, he kindly pointed out to Mr. Wheelock one respect in which his engine could hardly be considered perfect; the steam was exhausted into a large chamber embracing the lower half of the cylinder from end to end. This comparatively cold bath produced the condensation of a large quantity of the entering steam. From the middle of this chamber a pipe took away the exhaust from the opposite ends of the cylin- der alternately. Mr. Wheelock admitted the defect, and said in future he would avoid it, so, as I learned, having two exhaust pipes instead of one, he gave to each pipe one half the area of the .single one. 248 ENQINEERINO REMINISCENCES I had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance with Professor Sweet, who was superintending the exhibit of the mechanical work of his bojrs at Cornell; this was very creditable and included quite a show of surface plates. The Corliss engine in this exhibition was far the most imposing, and to the multitude the most attractive single exhibit ever shown anjrwhere. It consisted of two distinct engmes, each having a cylinder 40 inches in diameter, with 10 feet stroke of piston, the motion of which was transmitted through cast-iron walking beams to cranks set at right angles with each other on the opposite ends of a common shaft. This shaft made 36 revolutions per minute and carried a gear-wheel 30 feet in diameter; this wheel engaged with a pinion 10 feet in diameter on the Ime of shaft under the floor, giving to this shaft a speed of 108 revolutions per minute. One day I said to Professor Sweet: "Do you know, Professor, that an engine with a single cylinder of the same bore as these and 5 feet stroke directly connected with a line shaft and making 150 revolutions per minute, with a fly-wheel 10 or 12 feet in diameter, would exert more power than is afforded by this monster and would run with far greater economy, because the internal surfaces to be heated by the condensation of the entering steam would be one piston instead of two, two heads instead of four, and 5 feet length of exposed cylinder instead of 20 feet?" He replied : "That is all very true, but how would you get the steam in and out of the cylinder properly with a piston travel of 1500 feet per minute?" I was not prepared to answer that question on the instant, but I afterwards found no difficulty about it. The accompanying figures illustrate this engine and my high- speed equivalent drawn to the same scale; it will be seen that the small engine occupies about one tenth of the floor space needed for the large one, and would cost less than ten per cent, of the money. It would also have a more nearly imiform motion, the impulses received by the crank being 300 per minute, against only 144 per minute received by both cranks of the large engine, besides which in the latter the full force of the steam is exerted at the commencement of each stroke and falls to nothing at the end, while in the smaller engine, by the inertia of the reciprocating THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF THE BELL TELEPHONE 249 ll^!IVERSiTT 250 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES parts, the forces exerted at the opposite ends of the stroke would be practically equalized. The reader will doubtless inquire, as Mr. Green did why, with these enormous advantages, does not every- body use the high-speed engines and every builder make them? At this exhibition the Bell telephone was first shown to a select company, among which were President Grant and Dom Pedro, the last emperor of Brazil. This exhibition was given on Sunday, that being the only day when silence could be had. Human speech, both in talkmg and singing, was transmitted through the whole length of the main building, about 1800 feet; it has since been transmitted somewhat further. Vlj— m D U y^ fTTTrTT^ryr: ; . rttTrrTT-. : ^r7:w(/yy:A.'. : :::'a:>^::x:i::::7X^. Porter-Allen Engine Equal in Power to the Exhibited Corliss Engine. The exhibitors of hand pumps all talked about the ease with which their own pumps could be worked; one man touched bot- tom in this respect. He had set his pump so that the spout was nearly on a level with the surface of the pool from which it drew its water; he boldly claimed that his pumps required no power at all. I was invited, as I suppose multitudes were, to take hold of the handle and see for myself tl^at his claim was true. I never heard of but one man who I think would be satisfied with this demonstration; that was the engineering editor of the New York Tribune. Shortly before this he had published an account of a wonderful pump mvented by a Mr. George, w^hich he concluded by saying that the superiority of Mr. George's pump lay in the SHOW OF STEAM FIRE ENGINES 251 fact that at each stroke not the whole column of water had to be lifted, but only that which was to be discharged. We had a waterfall maintained by a centrifugal pump, which received its water on one side only; the maker evidently knowing nothing about the method of balancing these pumps by admitting the water equally on the opposite sides. The boiler-makers abounded. My old acquaintance, the Harri- son boiler, turned up. Mr. Allen urged a favorable award to Mr. Harrison because of the motives of humanity by which he knew Mr. Harrison was actuated in designing that boiler. A Mr. Pierce invited all the judges to visit his boiler and hear him explain it. He informed us that this boiler had been the subject of three scientific tests by Professor Thurston, but he did not tell us the results of those tests. As we were coming away Professor Reuleaux said to me: ''That is foolishness, isn't it?" An inventor named Smith came several times to our judges' room to urge upon us the merits of his boiler. He had two on exhibition, one in use in the boiler-house and the other in Machin- ery Hall; these were quite different from each other. One day not long after the close of the exhibition I received a note from a stranger requestmg me to call upon him at the Astor House. I thought, "This man doubtless wants an engme, but his time is too precious to come out to Newark," so at the hour appointed I was there. When I entered the room the first object I saw was a sectional model of this Smith boiler, and I found that the gentle- man wanted to know our reasons for overlooking that boiler. I replied to hSm that I had a question to which I would Uke an answer at his earliest convenience; we observed that the two boilers exhibited by Mr. Smith were quite different from each other, and I saw that this model differed in essential details from both of them, and I would like to know which one he wished us to approve of and bade him good afternoon. One day afterwards I happened to be in Mr. Holley's office in New York when a man came in with a drawing of a boiler which he wished Mr. HoUey to recommend. Mr. HoUey turned him over to me, and he explained to me that the great novel feature of his boiler was that the feed-water was admitted by spraying it into 252 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES the steam space, thus avoidmg the cooling of any part of the boUer by its admission at one point; so I found one freak boiler that was not at the exhibition. We had a fine exhibit of steam fire-engines. I think every maker in this coimtry was represented, and we had a trial of these engmes lasting three or four days. The committee desired to make a thorough comparative test of their performance, but the man (a lieutenant in the navy) appointed to keep the record put down so few items that we found we had no record at all. We could only guess how he came to do this. An exhibitor from Canada brought an engine that presented a very fine appearance; it was made up of a collection of what he believed to be the best features of every steam-engine made in the United States. The experts looked his machine over and saw where he had got every one of them, but his different appropriations did not work well together; his engine broke down every day and he worked all night to be ready for the next day's trial. It afforded a good commentary on the narrow-minded laws of Canada, which forbade a citizen of the United States from taking out a patent there. The show of steam-engines was not large, and the indicator was not applied to any engines, so I had no use for the indicators I had imported from England. If I remember rightly, we had only two engines from abroad, one of these sent by the Govern- ment of Brazil. This was what was called a "table" engine, m which the cylinder stands on a table in a vertical position and two connecting-rods extend down from the cross-head and con- nect with the crank under the table. It was copied from a Scotch elementary drawing-book from which I learned mechanical draw- ing. One of these engines had been made by Mr. Hoe to drive the press of the New York Daily Times when that paper was started in 1851 or 1852. The other foreign engine was made by a Brussels manufacturer with the assistance of the Belgian Govern- ment. It had an American cut-off which was used by Mr. Dela- mater on his engines, and it had the eccentric between the main bearing and the crank, giving to the latter therefore three or four inches of imnecessary overhang; it had my condenser, which I learned was then coming into considerable use on the Contment. Col. Alexw Petroff OF THE DIVERSITY OF REPORT OF THE SICKELS EXHIBIT 25$ The only American engines I now recall besides the Corliss were the Buckeye and the Brown engines, and our awards to these engines did not do them any harm; the Corliss engines were not within our jurisdiction and we were not permitted to say any- thmg about them; Mr. Corliss was not a competitor but a patron of the exhibition. Mr. Frederick E. Sickels made an extensive exhibit of his various inventions, the models of which had been loaned to him for that purpose by the Patent Office. Only two of these inven- tions came withm our province: the first was what is known as the celebrated trip cut-off, patented by him in the year 1842; the latter an arrangement patented in 1848. The former inven- tion was an improvement on the Stevens cut-off, already in gen- eral use in steamboats on our Eastern waters. The Stevens in- vention was applied to equilibrium valves, rising and falling in a direction vertical to their seats. It enlarged the opening move- ment of the valve in a degree increasing as the speed of the piston increased, by means of the device known as the wiper cam; but the closing motion of the valve, bemg the reverse of the openmg movement, grew slower and slower, until the valve was gently brought to its seat. It was found that during the closing of the port a great deal of steam blew into the cylinder through the contracting openings, with very little addition to the use- ful effect. Mr. Sickels conceived the idea of liberating the valve just before the opening movement was completed and letting it fall instantly to its seat, which would effect a sharp cut-off and a great economy in the consumption of steam. This action mvolved the difficulty that the valves would strike their seats with a violent blow, which would soon destroy both. This difficulty Mr. Sickels met by the invention of the dash-pot. This apparatus performed two functions: when its piston was lifted above the water it left a vacuum under it, so the pres- sure of the atmosphere on this piston was added to the weight of the valve and the pressure of the steam on it to accelerate its fall. This was arrested by the piston striking the surface of the water just in time to prevent the valve from strikmg its seat, but not soon enough to prevent the complete closure of the port. This nice point was determined by the ear. The engineer 254 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES first let water out of the dash-pot gradually, until he heard the valve strike its seat faintly; then he admitted water drop by drop, until the sound had died away. For these inventions and for his steam steering gears the judges made an award. Our foreign judges were enthusiastic about them; Horatio Allen had fought Mr. Sickels during his whole business life and would never allow a Sickels cut-off to be appUed in the Novelty Iron Works. For example, the directors of the Collins steamship line adopted the Sickels cut-off, but it was put on only two of their ships, the "Arctic" and the "Baltic," the engines of which were built at the Allaire works. The "Atlantic" and ''Pacific," which were engined at the Novelty Works, did not have it, Mr. Allen absolutely refusing to allow it. To my surprise Mr. Allen signed this award with a cordial expression of admira- tion of Mr. Sickels' genius; he had softened in his old age. The following is a copy of this award. INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1876. United States Centennial Commission, Philadelphia, 3d August, 1876. REPORT ON AWARDS. "Group No. XX. ''Catalogue No. 1027. " Product, Models of Improvements m Steam-engines. " Name and address of exhibitor, Frederick E. Sickels. "The undersigned, having examined the products herein de- scribed, respectfully recommend the same to the United States Centennial Commission for Award for the following reasons, viz: '* These exhibits possess great historical interest. In the year 1842 Mr. Sickels patented the trip or liberating cut-off, an invention which, in a variety of forms, has come into use wherever steam-engines are made. In applying this inven- tion to poppet valves, Mr. Sickels prevented these valves from striking their seats by his invention of the dash-pot, in which he availed himself of the incompressibility, the indestructibility and the divisibility of water, and which is now employed for this purpose in all such applications. '* In 1848 he patented an improvement in the method of controll- ing motive power, by which method steam is applied at the present time to various uses, notable among which is the steering of steam Jambs Moors Qt" THE •IVERSITY OF THE COMMITTEE OF REVISION • 255 vessels, the steersmen turning the wheel precisely as in steering by hand, but all the force being exerted by the steam. "Charles T. Porter, ''Reporting Judge. "Approval of Group Judges, Horatio Allen, Chas. E. Emery, Emil Brugsch, F. Reuleaux, N. Petroff." After our work was finished and I had gone home the awards were made public; to my astonishment the award to Mr. Sickela was not among them, so I wrote to General Walker, who was our medium of conmiunication with the Commission, asking the rea- son for this omission. He replied that the award had been thrown out by the Committee of Revision. "Committee of Revision 1" I had never heard of such a thing. I asked for an explanation and I learned that the judges did not make awards, they only recom- mended them; the awards were made by the Commission after they had passed the scrutiny of the Conmiittee of Revision. Well, who were the Committee of Revision? I learned that the Com- mission consisted of two commissioners from each State appointed by the Governor; Mr. Corliss was a commissioner from Rhode Island. At a meeting of the commissioners Mr. Corliss proposed the novel scheme of a ConMnittee of Revision, to which the action of the judges should be submitted for approval before the awards were made. The idea seemed to please the members of the Com- mission, as tending to magnify their own importance, and it was adopted; as a matter of usual courtesy Mr. Corliss was made chairman of the committee, and the committee threw out the award to Mr. Sickels. I made careful inquiry and could never learn that the Committee of Revision threw out any other award, so it seemed evident that with the throwing out of this award to Mr. Sickels the object of its existence was accomplished. In the Corliss valve system the liberation of the valve was the fundamental idea; this was applied by him to valves moving in the direction parallel with their seats. It not being necessary to arrest their motion at any precise point, they were caught by air cushions at any points after they had covered their ports. Mr. Corliss had appropriated the liberating idea, according to "the good old rule, the simple plan, that they may take who have the 256 ENQIXEERINO REMINISCENCES power, and they may keep who can," and all this machinery had been devised by him to prevent the historical fact that the liber- ating idea had been invented by Mr. Sickels from appearing in the records of the exhibition. By all this enormous expenditure of ingenuity and influence he succeeded in giving to this fact a prominence and importance which it would never otherwise have had, besides advertising his efforts to suppress it, Mr. Horatio Allen's life-long aversion to Mr. Sickels was caused by professional jealousy Mr. Allen conceived himself to be an in- ventor, and for years had been cherishing a cut-off mvention of his own. The original firm was Stillman, Allen & Co., and for years Mr. Stilknan had prevented the Novelty Iron Works from being sacrificed to Mr. Allen's genius, but later Mr. Allen had obtained supreme control of these works by an afliliation with Brown Broth- ers, the bankers, his principal stockholders, and Mr. Stillman sold out his interest and retired from the firm. Mr. Allen, having a clear field, now determined to put his invention on the new steamer of the Collins line, the "Adriatic," and American engineers were amused at the display of this amazing absurdity on the largest possible scale. In this construction there were four valves; each valve was a conical plug about six feet long and had four move- ments; first it was withdrawn from its seat a distance of three inches so that it could be rotated freely, then it was rotated first to draw off the lap. Up to this point theoretically the port had not been opened, but the steam had been blowing into the cylinder or out of it, as the case might be, through these enormous cracks; the valves then rotated further to produce the opening movement, for either admission or release; the rotation was then reversed until it reached its original position, then the fourth movement brought it to its seat. It is probable that the ship would have gone to sea working steam after this ridiculous fashion, if the complicated mechanism required to produce the four movements had not broken down at the trial of the engines at the dock, beyond the power of Mr. Allen's genius to remedy; so the valves had to be removed and the Stevens valves and Sickels cut-off were sub- stituted for them. The story that any sane man ever designed a four-motion steam-engine valve, and that he made the first appli- cation of it on the largest steamship, except the Great Eastern, Emil Brugsch OF THE iVERSlTY "_'t^OR ENGLISH VISITORS 257 then in the world, is such a tax on credulity, that I was glad to find the following corroboration of it in a letter to "Power," from which I copy the essential portion. '* In one of Mr. Porter's * Reminiscences/ which I have mislaid, he gives an account of the alterations to the last steamer of the E. K. Collins lines, the 'Adriatic' His description of Horatio Allen's cock-valves and their motions is absolutely correct. The writer made the greater part of the detail drawings by which the new valves and the Sickels cut-oflf were placed on the ' Adriatic/ Peter Van Brock. Je£FeiiBon, Iowa." These engines, as further designed by Mr. Allen, were afterwards described by Zerah Colbum in the London Engineer in his usual caustic style. His description began with this expression : "These engines are fearfully and wonderfully made." I had hoped that my old friend Daniel Kinnear Clark might turn up as the English member m our group of judges at the Cen- tennial Exposition, but in this I was disappointed. The English judge in our group was Mr. Barlow, son of the celebrated author of "A Treatise on the Strength of Materials," which, if I remember rightly, was the first authoritative treatise on that subject. Mr. Barlow, however, was not of much help to us; he came late and attended but one meetmg. That, I remember very well, was the meetmg at which I presented my classification. He left Philadel- phia with his son to visit Niagara Falls, and we never saw him again. I remember his giving me a very cordial invitation to visit him when I should find myself in England. Two of my English engineering acquaintances appeared at this exhibition. One of them was a judge in the group which embraced sewing machines. I remember asking him what was the most interesting mechanical device he had seen at the exhibition; he told me it was the automatic tension in the Wilcox & Gibbs sewing machine. In a walk with him through Machinery Hall one day, I called his attention to a locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomo- fiv Works. After looking it over cursorily he remarked that he did not see anything particular in it. I could not help replying, "That may not be the fault of the locomotive." I had thought him 258 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES a light wei^t in England, and that superficial remark confirmed my opinion. The other friend, as I am proud to call him, I have always considered mechanically the most interesting man I ever met. It was Mr. Smith, of Smitii & Coventry, the machine-tool builders of Salford. Mr. Smith was the brains of the concern. He had come over to learn what America could teach him, and the only thing he took back, so far as I know, was the twist-drill, the manufacture of which was begun by that firm after his return. I shall have something to add later to what I have already said respecting his wonderful improvements in machine tools. In one of the pleasant walks we took together, our attention was arrested by the exhibit of Riehl6 Brothers, tiie celebrated scale manufac- turers of Philadelphia. Among other novel and interesting feat- ures of their exhibit this firm showed a f-inch bolt broken by a stress applied to it through a nut of only one half the standard thickness, or three eighths of an inch deep, and that run on loosely by hand. This astonishing revelation drew from Mr. Smith the ejaculation, *' Why, old Whitworth lied." Mr.Whitworth had stated that he had ascertained by experiment that a nut to be as strong as the bolt must have a depth equal to the diameter of the bolt, and this had been accepted as mechanical truth by the entire engineering world, no one ever thinking to make the simple meas- urement which would show that the force required to strip the threads of any bolt in a nut of this standard depth would be nearly three times the strength of the bolt. He was, of course, highly interested in the wonderful steelyards made by this firm, which would weigh anything that could be lifted by a crane. His only discovery respecting machine tools was, that their manufacture in the United States was generally very inferior. It was fortunate that I had prepared the drawings according to my revised model for three or four sizes of the engines, as other- wise I should not have been able to accept the position offered me at the Philadelphia exposition. I received two more orders before May 24, and two more during the summer, but with the prepara- tions I had made and Mr. Goodfellow's familiarity with the work, everything went on smoothly during my absence. CHAPTER XXIV Engine Building in Newark. Introduction of Harria Tabor. |nraBFTER my return from Philadelphia the first order I H^I^^H received was a very important one. On the advice of HMj^ll Mr. HoUey, the Albany and Rensselaer Iron and Steel UHh Co. of Troy, N. Y., decided to order from me two engines for the new roll trains they were about to establish; this being the first opportunity I had of applying my engine in what proved to be its most important field. These were a 22 X 36-inch engine to drive a 16-inch train for rolling light steel rails, and an 18 x 30-inch engme to drive an 8- or 10-inch train for rolling merchant steel. These engines did not run rapidly; the first was a direct-connected engine making only 75 revolutions per minute; the second made only 112 revolutions per minute, but was belted to drive the train at twice that speed. Mr, Corning, president of the company, did not like the slow way in which the rails were turned out of the former train. I happened to be standmg with him observing this work when he asked a boy why the billets were not fed to the rolls faster. The boy replied, "Because the gentlemen at the hooks could not catch them, sir." Where are the gentlemen at the hooks to-day, when rails 200 feet long are turned out of the rolls? These engmes stood near each other, the trains extendmg in opposite directions. The battery of boilers was located at a con- siderable distance from them. I set between them a vertical steam receiver, four feet in diameter and twelve feet high. This receiver performed two functions: it maintamed the steam pressure at the cylinders and separated the steam from the water carried over. This latter was accomplished by admitting the steam at the top of 259 260 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES the receiver by a pipe extending two thirds of the way to the bottom, draining the water from the bottom by means of a Nason steam trap, and taking the dry steam to the engine from the top of the receiver. This was my first application of this method, which afterwards proved most valuable in cases of greater importance. These engines were of the highest interest to me, as their success- ful running opened the door to that imp)ortant field. While they were still lying on the floor of the shop ready for shipment, I had an opportunity of submitting them to the criti- cism of William R. Jones, the manager of the Edgar Thompson Steel Works, to whom, as already related, I had sold a small engine and governors for his large ones. I had not made these engines properly in one respect, as he pointed out to me that, for rolling- mill uses, they must be made capable of being run backwards by hand from any position, a requirement of which I had been ignorant. I soon made the necessary additions to the valve-gear which enabled this to be done. I never knew how Mr. Jones came to make this opportune visit, but undoubtedly Mr. Holley sent him. I had another visitor before these engines were shipped. It was the manager of the Laclede rolling mill at St. Louis, accom- panied by his engineer. They had designed a system of driving several trains of rolls from one engine, the power of which was to be transmitted through gearing. They were greatly fascinated by the appearance of the engines, and gave me an order for a large engine on the spot. This engine aflForded me a curious experience. When it was started, teeth were broken out of the gear at the very first revolu- tion, and I received a telegram from them telling me of this mis- fortune and that I must come to St. Louis immediately and see what was the trouble with the engine. I was too busy to go myself, but Mr. Phillips kindly permitted his engineer, Mr. CoUms, to go in my place. Mr. Collins took with him everything necessary to expose the defect, whatever it might be, which we expected would be foimd m the gearmg. Among other things he had the pattern- maker prepare for him two or three short pieces of lath about two two inches wide and one eighth of an inch thick; these latter proved to be all that he needed. On his arrival the proprietors assured him there could be no fault with the gearing, for they EXPERIENCE WITH GEARING 261 had it made by the most eminent engineering firm in St. Louis. The members of this firm showed him triumphantly the broken pieces and directed his attention to the perfect soundness of the metal, as proved by the fractured surfaces. His first experiment was to whittle an end of one piece of lath to fit exactly between two teeth of a wheel at one end of the space. To his amazement he found that this templet would not fit in any other space around the whole wheel, every one was in some degree or other too large or too small; neither would the templet fit m the opposite end of the same space. This one experiment settled the matter; the engine, to be sure, had broken the gears, because the larger teeth of the driving-wheels had wedged into the smaller spaces of the driven wheels. How such work could be produced was a puzzle to Mr. Collins; as for myself, I have never wondered at any imper- fection in gearing since my experience with Mr. Whitworth's work. The owners of the rolling mill applied for advice to Samuel T. Welhnan, the manager of the Otis Steel Works at Cleveland. He gave them the sensible advice to abandon altogether the plan of drivmg through gearing, and to drive each train by a separate engine, directly connected, which my high-speed engine would enable them to do. This was the first I heard of Mr. Welhnan, with whom I was afterwards to have such pleasant relations. While on the subject of gearing I will state a couple of incidents. One of my first small engines I sold to Mr. Albright of Newark, a harness-maker. Half of the power of the engine was to be trans- mitted to an adjoining building driving a vertical shaft through a pair of miter gears. It was required that these should run noise- lessly, which at 350 revolutions per minute seemed a difficult thmg to accomplish. I had the gears cut m the best gear cutter I knew of, and fitted them to run in a lathe, the spindle of the driven gear runnmg in a frame made for the purpose, and being provided with a friction wheel and brake. To make sure that the same teeth and spaces should always come together, I made a prick- punch mark on one tooth and behind the corresponding space. When started at 350 revolutions they rattled finely. The resist- ance of the friction brake was sufficient to make the points of contact on the teeth mark themselves well in 15 minutes' running. I then took Ihem down and carefully removed the bright spots on 262 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES the surface with a scraper. The next time the noise was more than half gone, and four successive scrapings by a skillful workman cured it entirely. There is this encouragement in correcting gear- ing, that its subsequent running always tends to improve the truth of the surfaces; they wear to a more general contact. One day I had a letter from Mr. Barclay, the miller for whom I had made my first engine in Harlem, and which I arranged to drive his millstones by belting. He told me he had moved his mill from Harrison Street to a building on North Moore Street, New York, and he found there was something the matter with the engine. (In these cases there is always something the matter with the engine.) It used to drive three runs of stones, now it would only drive two, and he burned a great deal more coal than before. He wanted me to come and see what the matter was. The moment I opened the door of his mill I knew what the matter was. I heard the roar of rough gearing and was pretty mad. I told him I hoped he liked that music, for it cost him more than half the coal he was burning to keep it up. I gave him a sharp piece of my mind for changing the system of driving from that which I had provided without consulting me on the subject. I told him when he threw out his gearing and put the pulleys and belts back just as I made them, he would find the engine would give him the same power that it had done for five or six years m its old location. In the first engmes which I built in Newark the governor had a more or less uncomfortable action. This annoyed me exceed- ingly. It did not sensibly aflfect the runnmg of the engine, but was a drawback to the appearance of the engine' in motion. I was utterly at a loss how to account for it, so I finally deter- mined I would solve the problem by a comparison of two engines of the same size. One of these was the smaller engine for the roll- ing mill at Troy, where the action of the governor was quite satis- factory; the other was an engine I had made for the Newark Lime and Cement Company, in which the action of the governor was very unsatisfactory. After some weeks of comparison I gave the problem up; I could get no light on the subject. Soon after I had occasion to go to Troy and found my smaller engine running at double its former speed or at 224 revolutions per minute. Mr. Robert W. Hunt ENGINE FOR GAUTIER STEEL WORKS 263 Robert W. Hunt, the general superintendent, informed me that they planned to employ this speed when rolling steel to finish at very small sizes, which they were then doing for the first time. The action of the governor which had before been so perfect was now most abominable; the counterpoise flying up and down furiously between the extreme points of its action. I told Mr. Hunt that something was hindering the action of the governor, and asked him if he would have an examination made and let me know what he found. A few days after I received a letter from him saying he had found nothing at all, but he added that that order had been completed and the engine was running at its old speed, and the governor was workmg as well as ever. In an instant the truth flashed upon me; it was the inertia of those polished cast-iron disks on the rocker-shaft which I had thought so much of that caused all the trouble. This inertia, increasing as the square of the speed, had offered four times the resistance to the reversing of their motion when the speed of the engine was doubled, and the pressure of the link which was necesary to overcome this resistance held the block fast. The governor could not move it until it had accumulated sufficient force by change of its speed; then it moved it too far, and so it was kept in constant violent motion from one end to the other of its range of action. I was thoroughly ashamed of myself that when I had made the subject of inertia a study for years this action should have been going on so long, the most prominent thing before my eyes, and I never saw it. I had use enough at once for my new insight as will appear. The Gautier steel works, which had been located in Jersey City, were removing to Johnstown, Penn., having formed an alliance with the Cambria Iron and Steel Company. Mr. Stephen W. Baldwin, then manager of the Gautier Company, had given me an order for an engine suitable for driving at 230 revolutions per minute their ten-inch train, or it may have been an eight-inch. I went to Jersey City and made a careful measurement of the indicated power required to drive this train. The engine used was rather a large one,- with a large and heavy fly-wheel running at slow speed and driving the train at this rapid speed by means of a belt. I found that my 10-inch by 20-inch engine directly connected with the train 264 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES would, at 230 revolutions per minute, be capable of furnishing twice the power they were then using. I built an engine of that size with a fly-wheel about 8 feet in diameter, shipped it to Johnstown, and sent George Garraty, my most trusty erecter, to set it up. I should say that Mr. Baldwin had meantime severed his connection with the Gautier Steel Company, and it was then in the hands of parties who were strangers to my engines. I received a letter from Garraty stating that on his arrival he had found them just about to send the engine back; everybody about the works had agreed that a man who sent that little engine to drive that train to roll steel was a fool. At his solicitation they promised to do nothing until they should hear from me. I then wrote to the president, Mr. Douglas, stating I had carefully measured the utmost power which that train had required at Jersey City, and had furnished an engine capable of supplying double that power with ease, and I was sure he would run no risk in setting it up. This he consented to (io. While Garraty was erecting the engine they were making preparations in the mill to stall it if possible. There was great excitement when it was started; the furnace men worked like beavers and succeeded in feeding billets to the train twice as rap- idly as ever before, but they could not bring down its speed in the least. Finally they lowered the steam pressure, but the engine did not stop until they had brought this down to 40 pounds. Then a great shout went up, not for themselves but for the engine, which had shown itself capable of doubling the output of that train, and telegrams were hurried oflF to the stockholders of the concern in New York and Philadelphia to relieve their anxiety. Garraty left that night and reported himself to me the following morning. After giving an account of the success of the engine he added: "But the governor is working very badly; they have not noticed it yet as they have thought only of the running of the train, but they will." By a remarkable coincidence I had that very morning received the letter from Mr. Hunt which had opened my eyes to the cause of this bad action; the day before I could not have understood it. Within twenty-four hours after my interview with Garraty I had started for Johnstown, carrying with me two light steel levers to replace those disks. In that time I had made the drawings and Stephen W. Baldwin I INTRODUCTION OF HARRIS TABOR 265 had the levers forged and finished, joint-pins set and keyways cut, perfect duplicates of the disks in all their working features. When I told my purpose to Mr. Douglas he smiled and said for the life of him he could not see what disks on the rocker-shaft had to do with the governor action. However, they had not yet started their night shift, so I might have the engine after 6 o'clock, but it must be ready for use at 6 o'clock the next mommg. I told him that as the change would probably, occupy me less than an hour, I thought I might safely assure him on that point. I engaged a machinist with the engineer to help me at 7 o'clock in the evening and amused myself the rest of the day about the mill. The furious governor action was so irritating I did not stay long in the engine- room. In the evening we had the disks off and the levers on and all connected up, ran the engine idle for jbl few minutes to see that all was right and I was back in my hotel within the hour, which illustrated the advantage of working to gauges. I had taken off 29 pounds weight, that bemg the difference between the weight of the disks and the levers. Next morning I went down to see the effect of this change. It seemed magical. The governor appeared to have gone to sleep, it was not taking any interest in the activity about it; the counterpoise stood at about the middle of its range of action, only moving lazily a short distance up or down occa- sionally. After calling Mr. Douglas in to see what disks on the rocker-shaft, with their motion reversed 460 times a minute, had to do with the governor action, and hearing his expressions of admiration, I took the next train home. As might be supposed I was not long in eliminating all traces of this blunder from drawings and from engines already made. I had an order from John W. Hyatt of Newark for a 6 X 12- inch engine to make 450 revolutions per minute, to drive an attrition mill running at 900 revolutions per minute, in which he pulverized bones to dust for manufacturing artificial ivory. This was the highest number of revolutions per minute that I had ever employed, and perhaps it was the most absolutely silent running engine that I ever made. Not long after its completion I had a call from a young gentleman who introduced himself to me as Harri s Tnhnr He told me he had mvented a steam-engine indicator which he thought would be superior to the Richards 266 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES mdicator, bb the pencil movement was very much lighter and would draw a straight vertical line. He said he called m the hope that I might give him an opportunity to test his indicator on a very high-speed engine. I told him I thought I could do just what he wanted. I took him down to Mr. Hyatt's place where the engine was running with the indicator rig on it which I had been using; he was, of course, greatly pleased with this remarkable opportimity. He took a niunber of diagrams with his indicator, and they proved to be quite free from the vibrations which were produced by the Richards indicator at the same speed. I gave him a certificate that these diagrams had been taken by his indi- catoi from a Porter- AJlen engine at a speed of 450 revolutions per minute. With these he started for Boston to see Mr. Ashcroft. With the result of that interview the engineering world is familiar. To my great regret not one of the diagrams taken at that time has been preserved either by Mr. Tabor, Mr. Ashcroft or myself, an omission that none of us can account for. The Hyatt plant was afterwards, I understood, removed to Albany, N. Y. I had a smgular experience with another 6 X 12-inch engine which I sold to William A. Sweet, elder brother of Prof. John E. Sweet, for use in his sprmg manufactory in Syracuse, N. Y. Mr. Sweet had two batteries of boilers set at some distance from each other and at different elevations; these were connected by a pipe which was necessarily inclined. About the middle of the length of this pipe a stop-valve had been mtroduced, and when this valve was shut the pipe m the upper end of it was, of course, partly filled with water. My engme received its steam from the bottom of this pipe below the stop-valve. The boijers at the lower end. were one day overloaded, and while I happened to be present Mr. Sweet himself opened the stop-valve for the purpose of getting an addi- tional supply of steam from the upper battery, but he did not get it. What he did get was a charge of solid water, which brought my engine to an instantaneous stop from a speed of 350 revolutions per minute. I was standing near the engme and saw shooting out from the joint of the back cylinder head a sheet of water, which at the top struck the roof of the .building. On examination it was found that the steel key of the fly-wheel had been driven into the wrought-iron shaft almost half an inch and the shaft was bent.. Harris Tabor TEST OF FLY'WHEEL 267 The engme suffered no other injury; the bolts of the cylmder head had not been stramed to then* elastic limit, and the nuts did not require to be tightened. The shaft was straightened, new key- seats were cut for the fly-wheel, and the engine worked as well as ever— a pretty good proof of its general strength. I had a couple of funny experiences arising out of my new way of boring fly-wheels and belt-drums. I sold an engine to Mr, Westinghouse for his original shop in Pittsburg, before the appear- ance of the Westinghouse engine. They erected it for them- selves. I received a telegram from their superintendent, reading: 'The hole in your wheel hub is oblong, what shall we do about it?*' To which I wired back : ''Put the wheel on the shaft and drive in the key." Another superintendent discovered the same unaccountably bad piece of work, and did 7wt communicate with me. He did the best he could by centering the shaft in the hole and filling the spaces on each side with thin iron scarfed down on each edge. Then the key would not enter the key way; so he reduced it until it would. Then the wheel ran an eighth of an inch out of truth. Then he unstopped the vials of his wrath and poured out their contents on my devoted head. I had an order from Mr. Mathieson, manager of the works of the National Tube Company, at McKeesport, Penn., for two engines, 28 and 32 inches diameter, with 48 inches stroke. The interest of this story centers in the former of these engines, which made 125 revolutions per minute. One day the governor spindle stuck fast in its column, an accident I never knew to happen before or since, whether caused by a tight fit or for want of lubrication I do not know. Of course the engine ran away like mad. Mr. Mathieson and I were in the engine-room; the last I saw of him his coat skirt was fiearly horizontal as he rushed through the door. The engineer ran to screw down the starting-valve. I thought that would be too long a process and ran in front of the fly-wheel to unhook the gab. On the instant, however, I feared what might be the possible effect in the cylinder of instantly arresting the motion of the admission valves at an unknown point in the stroke at that speed, and I did not do it. In a few seconds the engineer had the valve closed, and the engine soon slowed 268 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES down. The fly-wheel, which was 20 feet in diameter, did not burst, and I was confident it would not. I never had an accident to a fly-wheel, but this was the most severe test to which my fly- wheels were ever subjected. I have heard of many accidents to fly-wheels, in which it was evident that they were so carelessly made it seemed as if they were intended to burst on a moderate acceleration of their speed. This fly-wheel was necessarily made in halves in order to trans- port it, and the joints were so made as to be as strong as the section of the rim. As the accompanying drawing will show, they were held together by two steel loops opened out of the solid and shrunk in. It will be seen that any section of cast iron at this point was equal to the section of the rim, while the steel loops were stronger. The halves of the hub were held together by bolts and steel rings. I sold an engine for a rubber manufactory in Cleveland, OhiOy and some months after received a letter from the proprietor saying he had been adding to his machinery and the engine would not dri^ e it all and would not give its guaranteed power, and he wanted me to come immediately and see what was the matter with it. On going into the boiler-room I saw that the steam-gauge showed only 55 pounds pressure. I asked the- engineer why he carried so little pressm-e, and he told me that the safety-valve was set to blow off at 60 pounds, which he considered to be all the pressure a boiler ought to carry; that he had been an engineer several years on the Lakes, where 60 pounds was the greatest pressure allowed. I asked the proprietor if he had his boiler insured; he said he had, in the Hartford Boiler Insurance Company. I said I supposed that company had an agent in Cleveland. He said: "Yes, and his office is around the corner on this block, and if you want to see him I presume I can have him here in ten minutes." Pretty soon he appeared, and I said to him: "I understand you have insured this boiler." "Yes." "Have you made a personal examination of it?" "I have." "What would you consider a safe pressure to carry?" "One hundred and twenty pounds." TEST OF FLY-WBEBL 26» 270 ENOINEERING REMINISCENCES "Would you hold it insured at that pressure?" "Certainly, it would be perfectly safe." "Now," said I to the proprietor, "you will observe that my guarantee of power assumes a pressure of 85 pounds, and you have no excuse for not carrying that pressure, and if you do so you will have no trouble; as for the practice on the Lakes, if you will come to New York we will show you that on our river and sound steamboats the practice is to carry only 25 poimds pressure." He readily agreed to carry the higher pressure, which he found ample; so I was fooled into going to Cleveland pretty much for nothing. Afterwards I went there to a better purpose. CHAPTER XXV Engine for the Cambria Iron and Steel Company uniform success of my roUing-mill engines encouraged the Cambria Iron and Steel Company, of Johnstown, Penn., again on the advice of Mr. Holley, to order from me an engine to drive their rail-train. For this purpose I made the largest engine I had yet made, 40-inch cylinder by 48-inch stroke. It was altogether too large to be built in the Hewes & Phillips Iron Works, so I had the parts, except the valve- gear, constructed in three different establishments in Philadelphia. The bed, which weighed 40,000 pounds, was cast and finished at The I. P. Morris & Company's works, the cylinder was cast and finished by Mr. James Moore, who also turned the shaft, and the crank-disk was turned and bored by William Sellers & Co. The several parts were not brought together until they met at Johns- town. The Cambria Company made their own fly-wheel. I spent considerable time while the work was in progress in traveling between Newark and Philadelphia, carrying measuring-rods, tem- plets and gauges. I put the engine together myself, and every- thing came together without a hitch, which confirmed me in the belief that putting engines together and taking them down again in the shop was a great waste of time and space, and the manu- facturing system which I was planning in my mind I intended should be wholly a manufacture of pieces to be kept in stock, and orders filled by shipment of the separate parts direct from the storehouse. The boilers at Johnstown were located over the heating furnaces, utilizing their waste heat, and were scattered all over the works. The largest steam-pipes were 8 inches in diameter. I gave them 271 272 ENGISEERING REMINISCENCES an order to make a steam-receiver 5 feet in diameter and 15 feet high, to be set close to the cylinder of the engine. They made it 18 feet high, the width of the sheets favoring this greater height. I took the steam by an 8-inch pipe entering at the top of this receiver and extending down 12 feet; from the top of the receiver I took the steam over to the engine by a 12-inch pipe. I drained the water from the bottom of this receiver by the largest Nason trap, from which a one-inch stream of water was delivered con- tinually. I set in the side of this receiver four try-cocks, one above another four feet apart. From the lowest, six feet from the bottom, the steam blew as white as a sheet, from each one successively it blew with less color, and from the upper one it was quite invisible. I set a steam-gauge on this receiver, and it showed that when the greatest resistance was on the engine the pressure did not fall more than three pounds. This assurance of dry steam in the cylinder was vital to the success of the engine. The engine was started at 80 revolutions per minute. This was the same speed at which their old engine was supposed to run, but practically its speed had always fallen to 60 revolutions when- ever two passes were in the rolls together. I should say here that the new engine was set at the opposite end of the train from the old one, and the only change made was disconnecting the old engine and connecting the new one. The advantage was found in the fact that with the new engine four or even five passes could be in the rolls simultaneously and the speed of the engine never fell sensibly below 80 revolutions per minute. The result was that the first week the train turned out 2400 tons of rails instead of 1200 tons, which was the former limit. This latter was a product of which they had been quite proud and which they claimed exceeded that of any other mill. Mr. Daniel N. Jones, their chief engineer, increased the speed of the engine five revolutions per minute each week for four successive weeks by changing the governor pulley for a larger one. This he did every Sunday w^hen the mill was idle, increasing the speed finally to 100 revolutions per minute and the production to 3000 tons per w^eek. He prided him- self on doing this without the men at the hooks finding it out, which if they had done might have made trouble. This seems a very small thing to say when for many years the output of a rail- Daniel N. Jones SUPPORT OF CYLINDER 273 train has been 3000 tons a day without the aid of human hands; but at that time it was considered an immense achievement. It was also a remarkable thing for the company financiaUy, as directly after a greatly increased demand for steel rails appeared and the price rose to $60 per ton, at which it was maintained for some time. This thoughtful act of Mr. Jones was an example of his magnificent co-operation with me in all my work. Mr. Jones had insisted that the cylinder should have a sup- port at the back end, «s he felt sure that without it the running of the piston, weighing 3600 pounds, would produce a deflection; so i Connection of Anns and Rim in Mr. Fritz' Fly-wheel a support was built under the end of the cylinder, which was cast with a corresponding projection underneath. These surfaces were planed parallel with each other, but I took pains to secure a space between them sufficient to admit a sheet of paper, and when the engine was running I was able to draw a sheet of paper through that space without its being seized, showing the support of the cylinder from the bed to be sufficient, as I had claimed it would be. Mr. Jones laughed. The fly-wheel which the Cambria Company made for this engine interested me greatly. The hub and arms were cast in one piece as a spider and, of course, were free from internal strain. 274 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES The rim was also cast in one piece. The manner in which the arms were miited to the rim is shown in the accompanying cut. The spaces at the sides and end were f inch wide; these were filled with oak, into which long slender steel wedges were driven from each side, as many as they would contain. This wonderful fly-wheel, I learned, was the invention of Mr. John Fritz, made while he was superintendent of the Cambria Works. The engine had many visitors, among whom I particularly remember Mr. Otis and Mr. Wellman, whom I happened to meet there. Their visit resulted in an order for an engine of the same size to drive the new plate-mill which Mr. Otis was about building. I received also three other orders for duplicates of this engine, one from the Pennsylvania Steel Company, one from the Bethle- hem Steel Company, and a second order from the Cambria Com- pany themselves. The order from the Bethlehem Steel Company was given me by Mr. John Fritz, then its superintendent and engineer, the inventor of the three-high train of rolls, and the de- signer of all their machinery for rolling both rails and armor-plates. An incident connected with the order from the Cambria Com- pany I will mention, as showing the contrast between the brutal and the considerate way of doing business. I received a telegram from the Cambria Company, reading: "You are wanted here at once about another engine." I learned afterward that this tele- gram as written by Mr. Powell Stackhouse, the general manager, did not contain the last three words, but read: "You are wanted here at once." Mr. Stackhouse had written this telegram and laid it on his table for a boy to take to the telegraph operator. At that moment Mr. Jones came into his office and read the telegram, when the following conversation took place : Mr. Jones: "It will never do to send this in that shape." Mr. Stackhouse: "Why not?" Mr, Jones: "It will break Porter all up." Mr. Stackhouse: "How so?" Mr. Jones: "The only thing he can think of will be that some great disaster has happened to his engine." No answer. Mr. Jones thereupon added the words "about another engine," which changed somewhat the impression which the telegram was calculated to produce. John Fritz ORDERS FOR LARGE ENGINES 275 These orders for four more engines of the largest size on my list were afterwards supplemented by a similar order from the Albany and Rensselaer Iron and Steel Company, making in all five, or with the one then running six from the same patterns. The more rapid rolling was found to possess advantages beyond the merely increased output. It insm-ed a uniform excellence in the product, which could not otherwise be attained even by the utmost care, and it effected several important economies. Mr. Jones had recently completed and put in operation a new bloom- ing-train, then the largest in the world, for which the size of the ingots to be rolled was increased from 12 inches square to 17 inches square at the base, and the capacity of the Bessemer con- verters was increased in the same proportion. The output of this mill was much greater than the rail-train could dispose of, and a large pile of cold blooms had accumulated in the yard. A force of about thirty men was employed in chipping out all defects in these blooms which might cause rails to be classed as "seconds." After my engine had been started it was soon observed that, between the shorter time of exposure and the greater rapidity with which heat was imparted to the rails by the rolling, the original heat of the blooms was very nearly iiiaintained to the end of the process, every defect was welded up, and a perfect rail was produced, so the chipping of the blooms was no longer necessary. It was not a great while before the accumulation of the blooms in the yard was disposed of and the hot blooms were brought directly from the blooming-mill. These, of course, were more readily reheated, and moreover, to the surprise of the workmen, less power was required to roll them, and the rolls endured much longer without needing to be re-turned. The explanation was that the cold blooms had never been thoroughly heated in the middle. This was the beginning of maintaining the original heat of the ingot, which has since been turned to such great advantage. CHAPTER XXVI My Downward Progress HAD now reached the top of my engineering career; I had devoted myself for twenty years to the develop- ment of the high-speed engine and to the study of the best means and method of its manufacture, and had introduced into it designs and workmanship of an excellence be- fore unknown in steam-engine construction. I had solved all the theoretical problems involved in the running of high-speed engines, and, starting from Mr. Allen's inventions of the single eccentric link and the four-opening balanced valve with the adjustable pressm*e-plate, and my governor, had designed every constructive feature and detail of this engine. I had been for four years carrymg on the business of the manu- facture of these engines in my own name as sole proprietor, but, as already stated, without a cent of capital. I had in this time built between forty and fifty engines of every size on my list, from the smallest to the largest, except two, the 44-inch diameter cylinder having been added after my time. Considering my business as an organization, I had been president, secretary, treas- urer, general manager, chief engineer, inspector, and draftsman. At any rate, the duties belonging to all those positions had been performed by me with satisfactory results. I made every draw- ing, both general and detail, with my own hands, having only the help of a young man who made my tracings, and when he had time helped me with my section lining. At that time blue-print- ing had not come into use; drawings were made on white drawing- paper and were inked in, and the tracings were made for the shop; 276 THE FUNDAMENTAL ERROR 277 I began to use the blue-print system when I removed to Phila- delphia. Every one was loyal to me, I could always rely upon my instruc- tions being faithfully foDowed, so the work ran as smoothly as the engines themselves; we were, however, much hindered by the poor tools we had to use. These were a fair average of Ameri- can tools at that time, but Mr. Goodfellow and myself estimated their output to average only about one half that which we ex- pected in our contemplated works. Besides this, I could not establish piece-work prices or introduce any systematic methods. I became gradually swamped with orders. These outgrew the -capacity of the Hewes & Phillips Works, or of that portion which I could use. Before I left there, besides the four large orders already named, amounting altogether to $48,000 f.o.b., without fly-wheels, and which could not be handled in these works, I had accepted orders for smaller engines sufficient to bring the aggre- gate up to $125,000. These latter were more than I could manage alone, so I had arranged to have some of these also made, or partially made, in other shops. From this point my path sloped steeply downward to the grave of all my hopes; in about two years and eight months the business had dwindled to practically nothing, and I, as the party held responsible for this result, was tm-ned out of theSouthwark Foun- dry into the street. At the bottom this was entirely my own fault. No one could ask to be associated with a better body of men than were those who united to sink their money in the manu- facture of the Porter-Allen engines. My aim had been to reach a point where I could command the •capital necessary to establish my business according to the plan which I had cherished ever since my return from England, but on a much larger scale than I then contemplated. I had now reached that point. Parties who were finding themselves enriched by my engine were ready to pour out their money like water for my use; but there was something else that I needed even more than their money, without which indeed, as the event proved, their money was of no use at all. That was their respect for me and confidence in me as a strong business man; my record would have sufficiently justified that confidence, but of this they were ignorant. They 278 ENOINEERINQ REMINISCENCES had no means to form a judgment of me except what I did then and there. I never thought of this supreme requirement, and in response to their request made them an ofifer which, regarded from their point of view, appeared^ so unbusinesslike that they could form only one conclusion, that while unquestionably I could make engines all right, in matters of business I was a mere baby whose opinion on business matters was not to be regarded seriously. How came I to do myself, and them also, as the victims of their mistaken judgment, this mjustice? My whole life was bound up in the engine; I cared nothing for money except to develop its manufactm-e; I felt that every dollar paid to myself would leave so much less for this pm-pose. I asked nothing for the good-will of my business, for I was not selling it; they were putting money into my business, which, of course, I would continue to carry on as I had done. This was my mistaken view. I consulted fully with Mr. Hope, whose interest was equal with mine, and he viewed ' the matter precisely as I did. Although standing at the head of his profession as a fire underwriter, he had not the special business training or experience that would enable him to give me the advice I needed, so I told them that if a company should be formed to manufacture the engines with $800,000 capital, I would assign to it my patents for $100,000 of its stock, the value of which I assumed I would increase several fold in a few years. Beyond this I assumed everything and made sure of nothing, so our minds never came together. I did not assert myself because it never occurred to me that I needed to do so. They could not understand my position. They could not appreciate my sentiment. They were business men, and did business on strictly business principles. What their position was I came to understand later. From the fact that I did not stipu- late for it they concluded that I did not expect the presidency of the company, but had yielded it to them, which they accepted, of coimse, in accordance with the general usage that capital takes the direction of a business which it knows nothing about, relying upon skilled experts in its various departments. Thus by my failure to realize their necessary position and to lay before them a thoroughly business-like proposition, demanding NAME AND OFFICERS 279 for myself the practical direction of the business and a proper sum for the patents and the good-will of the business, and assuring to them the safety and disposition of their money the enterprise was doomed from the start. An excellent opportunity seemed to offer itself for going right oif. with my business without the delay which would be involved in the erection of new works. The Southwark Foundry was in the market for sale. These were the old engineering works of the firm of S. V.- Merrick & Sons; they were famous works before the war, when they were largely devoted to the manufacture of municipal gas and water plants, having, I think, a monopoly of this class of work, for which they were especially equipped. During the war they had built engines for some government vessels. A few years after the war the elder Mr. Merrick died, and his two sons, J. Vaughan and William IJ. Merrick, retired from business, and these works were closed. In company with several of the gentlemen interested I was shown over the works by William H. Merrick and was very favorably impressed with them. They covered a large plot of ground, the front extending from Fourth to Fifth streets on the south side of Washington Avenue, in Phila- delphia; they were favorably located with respect to transpor- tation facilities, a branch of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Rail- road ran through this avenue to the Delaware River, and two switches from these tracks entered the works, one going to the foundry and one to the erecting-floor. This floor was com- manded by three cranes, operated by power, the largest I had ever seen, while an annex to the foundry was commanded by a steam-crane of equal size, and the main foundry floor was provided with an overhead traveler, the only one at that time in the country. The machine-fihop was a large three-story building, the first and second floors of which, as well as the erecting-shop, were filled with tools, some of them of large size. I was particularly impressed by the great planer, the largest in the country, capable of passing objects twelve feet square. The office was provided with a large fire-proof vault which was carried up to the second story for the use of the drawing-office. I expressed myself decidedly in favor of purchasing these works. I could form no judgment respecting the tools, all their 280 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES working parts being coated with a composition of white lead and tallow; but I did not care much about them, because I should speedily fill the works with the latest improved tools, most of which I expected to import from England. A contract was im- mediately made for the purchase of these works, in part pay- ment for which the Merrick brothers were to accept stock in the proposed company. Thus they became numbered among our stockholders. I was next invited to attend a meeting of a few gentlemen held at the office of the Cambria CJompany -to arrange a slate for the action of the subscribers at a meeting which had been called for organization. This first meeting was full of surprises to me. I went into it expecting the gentlemen to say to me: "Of course, Mr. Porter, you will accept the office of president?" quite unconscious that I had made it impossible for them to think of such a thing, but quite conscious that no amateur in that posi- tion could by any possibility make the business successful, unless he should commit the management entirely to my hands and con- tent himself with being a mere figurehead. Mr. Townsend, the president of the Cambria Company and the leading mover in this enterprise, called the meeting to order and announced that the first question to be settled would be the name of the company. I remarked: "There can be but one name for it: the Porter- Allen Steam-engine Manufactiu^ing Company." Then Mr. William H. Merrick spoke up: "I don't know about that; of course, no one can imagine that the manufacture of these engines can employ all the resources of these great works; there is a vast amount of work of the character formerly carried on in them which will naturally flow back to them, and I think the door should be left open for its return." I expressed my amazement at such a view; I had not come there to revive any old business, but to make the Porter-Allen engine and nothing else; that it must be obvious to any observer that my business only required suitable means for carrying it on to grow to great pro- portions, and the resources of these works, whatever they were, would need to be greatly enlarged for its use, and besides the name ought to describe and advertise the business. When a vote was taken every man voted for the historic Philadelphia name of NAME AND OFFICERS 281 the "Southwark Foundry/' to which they added "and Machine Company," and I discovered that my views had no weight at all. I had afterwards the pleasure of being asked by my friends occa- sionally what good I supposed that name would do my business. The next subject was the selection of a president, and my next discovery was that I was not even thought of. If any one had been asked why he had not thought of me he would, from his point of view, very properly have replied that "to commit the interests of this company to a man who had shown so little ability to look out for his own interests did not impress him favorably." Every vote was cast for William H. Merrick, and I was ^elected as vice-president, with charge of the manufacturing. A day or two after, the meeting was held which had been called for the purpose of hearing the report kf the patent expert and organizing the company. At this meeting the expert was not prepared to report, as an application for the reissue of an important patent was still pending. Mr. Merrick moved that a temporary organization be then effected, so that we might proceed at once with work on pressing orders. On my assurance that this reissue was certain to be allowed, the motion was adopted and a tem- porary board of directors was elected. Mr. Merrick and myself were elected president and vice-president respectively. Mr. Merrick told me afterwards that he made the motion because he knew that those twenty-one gentlemen there assembled could never be got together again if this meeting should prove fruitless. The directors held a meeting immediately after, and at this meeting I presented a letter which I had written to the chairman of the meeting called for organization, setting forth the require- ments of the engine for the latest and most improved tools and asking for an immediate appropriation of $100,000 for their pur- chase, as time was of the utmost consequence. To this_Mr. Merrick replied that such action would be entirely unnecessary, saying: "I assure you gentlemen, and I assure Mr. Porter, that for a long time to come he will find in these works everything he can possibly desire." Of course I could make no reply to this positive state- ment, and the matter was dropped. We immediately took posses- sion of the works, and a large force of men were put at work cleaning the tools and getting them in working order; I also had my draw- 282 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES ings, patterns, and all work in progress brought from Newark and from all shops where it had been commenced. Prominent among these latter were the bed, cylinder and shaft of the first of the 40 X 48-inch engines which were then ready for finishing. In about two weeks from the date of this meeting Mr. Good- fellow came into the office pale and trembling with excitement, and addressing himself to me, Mr. Merr ick sitting on the opposite side of the table, said: "Mr. Porter, I give it up; we might just as well be set down in a cotton-mill to make steam-engines; there is not a tool in the place that has not spoiled every job that has been put in it, from the day we came here. I don't believe another such lot of antiquated and worn-out rubbish exists on the face of the earth." This was not news to me, as I had spent much of my time in the shop. Our most serious disappointment was the con- dition of their great planer; we had hurri:d the above-mentioned engine bed on it as soon as it arrived, and when it had been planed the surface plate was laid on the guide-bars, which were 7 feet 6 inches long, and it was found to rock on two diagonal comers more than an eighth of an inch, showing a cross-wind of over half an inch in the whole length of the planer bed; this of com-se rendered the tool useless in its present condition. I had found that the means for boring the 40-inch cylinder and for finishing the shaft, as well as for doing the other work for this engine, were all equally useless, and I proposed to Mr. Merric k that these parts should all be sent back to the shops from which they had been brought and finished there, and the engine altogether built in outside shops, just as I had built the first one. This he flatly refused to do, saying he would not make such an exposure of our condition. Our plight may be understood when I state that it was over a year before we could deliver that first large engine, although every effort was made to complete it, the castings and forgings waiting for many months. *'But,'' exclaims the reader, "why, when this state of affairs was first discovered, were not steps instantly taken to remedy it?" The answer to this question involves a very different subject. When I had received in Newark a letter from Mr. Merripk request- ing me to send on my patents for examination by an expert, I was suddenly reminded that J had omitted to obtain the reissue TREACHERY OF PATENT EXPERT 283 of the latest patent which Mr. Allen had obtained, namely, the one for his adjustable pressure-plate, which had been so shockingly muddled by the Washington agent of the patent solicitors that when we received it we could not understand the specification, and the claims were absolutely meaningless. However, I had said to myself, there will be time enough to have it reissued when it becomes necessary, as applications for reissue are always passed upon immediately. But before sending the patents on, I pre- pared myself a new and clear specification for that patent and put it in my pocket. In two or three days I followed the patents to Philadelphia and met the patent solicitor; he told me all the patents seemed to be well enough except this one, and this he could make nothing out of. I told him how that came to be such a muddle, that I always intended to get it reissued and now would employ him to do it. I produced the amended specification I had prepared for that reissue; he read it and handed it back to me, saying it would be of no use to him. I instantly thought of the protest of Mr. Perker : "Really, Mr. Pickwick, really, my dear sir, when one places a matter in the hands of a professional man he must not be inter- fered with; indeed, he must not, my dear sir, really.*' I made an humble apology for my presmnption, but asked him if he would get the application in the next day at farthest, that the reissue might be received in time for him to report on it at the meeting called for the organization of the company, then some days distant. He made no reply. I soon found that I had fallen into the hands of a traitor who intended to use his professional power to strangle my enterprise in its birth, and who never did give up his prey until it was torn from his fangs. Not hearing from him for a day or two, I called to see what was the matter, and was stunned by his telling me that he had determined not to apply for a reissue, but to report against me on the patent as it stood, saying that a reissue could not be got, and if it was it would be good for nothing. I attempted to argue the matter with him, but found him firm. I then went directly to the office of Morgan & Lewis, the attorneys for the company, and told the story. Mr. Morgan said, "I will go and see him at once;" 80 we went together. The expert repeated his determination to 284 ENOINEERINO REMINISCENCES Mr. Morgan, and, anxious that the latter should understand the merits of the case, I presented it to the expert as plainly as I knew how, Mr. Morgan being an attentive listener. Many months after- wards I realized the vital importance of the lesson I then gave to Mr. Morgan. The expert persisted in his determination, but con- sented to see Mr. Morgan again the next day. On our way back I said to Mr. Morgan: ''It seems to me that this man does not see the point of the application because he won't see it; he doesn't want to see it." Mr. Morgan made the rather enigmatical reply: ''It seems very plain to me." The next day Mr. Morgan made the point to the expert that he could not afford to take such a position as that — he could not sustain it. He then consented to make the application, but added what he had already said to me, that he had no idea it would be granted, and if it was, it would be good for nothing. It will hardly be credited that he was over two months in preparing this application, getting it into a form in which he was sure it could not be allowed. When it was finally shown to me I could not understand it. It contained two references, the pertinence of which I could not see; he assured me, however, that it was the very best that could be done, although he said he had very little hopes that it would be allowed. Sure enough, in a few days the rejection was received from Washington and a meeting was called to hear his report. He used very strong language in making this report, saying: "This rejection is final and the case is hopeless," and walking over to where I was sitting, he shook a paper in my face with an air as if I had been a detected felon and he held in his hand the proof of my rascality, saying: "This is a paper I received from Washington this morning that settles your hash, sir." When he sat down the silence might have been felt. Every one shrank from what appeared to them the inevitable and final step, the adoption of a resolution to the effect: "Whereas Mr. Porter has failed to keep his agreement with us, the whole matter be now dismissed from our further consideration." I did not allow them much time for reflection, but rose and made a little speech as follows : "Mr. Chairman, I have but a single word to say. I have taken this case out of the expert's hands; I expect to go to Washington to-morrow morning and return ia INTERVIEW WITH CHIEF EXAMINER 285 the afternoon, and when I come back I shall bring this reissue with me.' No one said a word, but I knew what was in every man's mind • '* What a fool, when our great Philadelphian author- ity has spoken, to imagine that he can do anything to change the result! " However, there was no disposkion to cut me off by any precipitate action, and the meeting adjourned subject to the call of the chair, every one feeling that it was a mere waste of time. The next morning I was received by Mr. Fowler, the accom- plished chief examiner in the class of steam-engines, with his usual extreme courtesy. He told me that he felt very sorry at finding himself obliged to reject my application, but the very precedents cited in the application itself left him no alternative. ''However," he added, "if you have anything new to present I shall be most happj' to receive it." In reply I handed to him the specification which had already done duty so ineffectively with the expert and in which I had not changed a syllable. He read it through with fixed attention, and the instant he finished he exclaimed: ''Why, Mr. Porter, it is perfectly obvious that you are entitled to this reissue, and the cases cited in the application have nothing to do with it; but why was not this presented to me in the first place?" I told him I had prepared it for that purpose and placed it in the hands of the expert, who, after reading it^ returned it to me, saying it would be of no use to him. Mr. Fowler instantly asked me if I had prepared any claims. I told him I had, because I could not get any one to prepare them for me; but it was a new business to me, and I had asked the advice of the expert about them, who, after reading them, re- turned them to me without any suggestion, merely remarking: "If you get these allowed you will be doing very well." The moment Mr. Fowler glanced at them he exclaimed: "Oh, Mr. Porter, we cannot allow any such claims as these; they are functional claims, which the Patent Ofiice never allows." Then, evidently seeing my helpless condition in the hands of a traitor, he instantly added: "I shall be occupied this morning, but if you will call at three o'clock I will have two claims prepared for you which will be allowed." So the expert had let me go to Washington with claims that he knew could not be allowed, and sure that my errand would be fruitless. But he did not 286 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES imagine that the examiner would see through his treachery and thwart it. At three o'clock our interview was brief; as I entered Mr. Fowler's room he handed me a paper, saying: "These have been allowed; you will receive the reissue in the course of three or four days, and it will appear in next week's Gazette. Good afternoon." I suppose that I never looked on a countenance expressing more amazement than did that of Air. Merrick when next morning I handed him the copy of the claims and told him my brief story. He said he could hardly believe his senses. Taking the paper, he started for Mr. Townsend's office, and in the course of an hour all the parties in interest had been apprised of my easy triumph. The reissue arrived as promised, was placed in the expert's hands, and a meeting was called to receive his report. I thought my troubles were all over; the case was an absolutely simple one, there was no pretense that the invention was not new, and he must report in its favor, no matter how reluctant he might be to do so. What was my amazement and fury when he quietly stated to the meeting that he had no report to make ; that the case involved very serious questions which would require much time for their consideration; that the granting of the patent was nothing — it was the business of the Patent Office to grant patents, not to refuse them, but whether or not they would be sustained by the courts was entirely another matter, about which in this case he had very grave doubts. I now did what I never did before or since, and what no good business man, who is accustomed to accomplish his purposes, ever allows himself to do: I, who always prided myself on being desti- tute of such a thing, lost my temper. And not only my temper, but, like Tarn O'Shanter, I lost my reason altogether. Already driven frantic by the frightful condition of affairs at the works, which had been protracted over three months by this man's machinations, and which he threatened to continue indefinitely while he should endeavor to find some means to accomplish his purpose of wrecking my business, without an instant for reflection I shouted, regardless ol all proprieties: "You rascal! What was the Patent Office doing a week ago when you reported to these gentlemen that this reissue had beeii refused, that the decision was / LOSE MY SENSES. 287 final and the case was hopeless; what were they domg then, I would like to know? Were they grantmg patents or refusing them? The fact is, you are either a traitor or know nothing about your business, and you may hang on either horn of the dilemma you like," and I sat down, having in these few seconds done myself and my case more harm than anybody else could have done in a lifetime. I did not reflect that I could not have the sympathy of my audience; they knew nothing of the state of aJBfairs at the works— this they had been keen kept in ignorance of, — nor of the consistent course of treachery which this man had been following. All they could see was that I had used outrageous language, for which they could not imagine any justification, toward an eminent patent lawyer who enjoyed their confidence, and they naturally supposed that was my usual way of doing business. The chairman coldly informed me that the lawyer was their patent adviser and nothing whatever could be done imtil his report on the reissue should be received. I had entered the room expecting to receive the congratulations of every one on the bold coup by which I had saved my business. I left it un- noticed by any one. The reader will not be much surprised to learn that it was months before we heard from him again — months more of frantic helplessness. About the first of August I called at the expert's office and was informed that he had gone on his vacation and would be absent about six weeks, and the case could not be taken up until his return. In my desperation I called upon Mr. Townsend and made to him a clean breast of our helpless condition, and offered to pledge all our stock as security for a loan of the money necessary to buy a few of the most indispensable tools. He replied to me: "Sup- pose the report of the expert shall be adverse and the enterprise be abandoned, what do you think your security will be worth? " I succeeded in saving one order from the wreck in rather a singular manner. This was an order from Mr. Lewis, of Cincin- nati, the projector of the cottonseed-oil business, for an 18 x 30- inch engine to drive the machinery of their first oil-mill at Houston, Texas. I had built in Newark an engine of the same size for Senator Jones of Nevada, to drive an ice-making plant which he was establishing in the city of New Orleans. Word came to me 288 ENOINEERINO REMINISCENCES sometime that spring that this enterprise had proved a failure, the work had been abandoned, and the engine, their only asset of value, was for sale. I instantly bought it and sent a man down to trans- port it to Houston and erect it there. Mr. Lewis wrote me from Cincinnati an indignant letter at my sending him a second-hand engine. I replied to him, stating first it was my only possible way of filling his order at all, as I did not know when we should be able to build an engine in our new works, and, second, that it was a new engine, having been run only a few weeks, long enough to show its excellent condition and not so long as engines are often run in public exhibitions, from which they are always sold as new. Mr. Lewis gracefully accepted my explanation, and the engine was in readiness for them to grind the coming cottonseed crop. The next summer we had a call from the agent of that mill, who had come North during their idle interval, while they were waiting for their next crop, to make his report at Cincinnati, and had come out of his way to tell us of the wonderful manner in which that engine had carried them through their first season, which he concluded by saying: "That is the engine for the cottonseed-oil business." After he had gone I said to ML-Merrink • "That is an old story to me; everybody says that is the engine for their business, whatever their business may happen to be." What did I do with myself during that six months? Well, I was not altogether idle. First I found all the drawers in the drawing-office filled with piles of old drawings which Mr. Merr ick_ ordered to be preserved and which we piled up on the floor of the unoccupied third story. Out of the contemplation of that con-^ fused heap I evolved a new system of making and keeping mechanical drawings, which I described in the following paper, read the next year before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers : •*The system of making and keeping drawings now in use at the works of the &Mhw&ik .FQundry and Machine Companyin Philadelphia has been found so satisfactory in its operation that it seems worthy of being communicated to the profession. "The method in common use is to devote a separate drawer to the drawings of each machine or each group or class of machines. The idea of this system is keeping together all drawings relating to MECHANICAL DRAWINGS 289 the same subject-matter. Every draftsman is acquainted with its practical working. It is necessary to make the drawing of a machine and of its separate parts on sheets of different sizes. The drawer in which all these are kept must be large enough to accom- modate the largest sheets. The smaller ones cannot be located in the drawer, and as these find their way to one side or to the back, and several of the smallest lie side by side in one course, any arrangement of the sheets in the drawer is out of the question. "The operation of finding a drawing consists in turning the con- tents of the drawer all up until it is discovered. In this way the smaller sheets get out of sight or doubled up, and the larger ones are torn. No amoimt of care can prevent confusion. " In the system now proposed the idea of keeping together draw- ings relating to the same machine, or of classifying them according to subjects in any way, is abandoned, and in place of it is sub- stituted the plan of keeping together all drawings that are made on sheets of the same size, without regard to the subject of them. Nine sizes of sheets were settled upon as sufficient to meet our requirements, and on a sheet that will trim to one of these sizes every drawing must be made. They are distinguished by the first nine letters of the alphabet. Size A is the antiquarian sheet trimmed, and the smaller sizes will cut from this sheet, without waste, as follows: "A, Sr'xSO"; B, 37"x30"; C, 25"x30"; D, 17"x30"; E, 12i"x30"; F,8J"x30"; G,17"xl5"; H,8J"xl5"; I,14"x25". "The drawers for the different sizes are made 1 inch longer and wider than the sheets they are to contain, and are lettered as above. The drawers of the same size are distinguished by a numeral pre- fixed to the letter. The back part of each drawer is covered for a width of from 6 to 10 inches, to prevent drawings, and especially tracings^ from slipping over at the back. "The introduction of the blue-printing process has revolution- ized the drawing-office. Our drawmgs now are studies, left in pencil. When we can find nothing more to alter, tracings are made on cloth. These become our originals and are kept in a fire-proof vault. This system is found admirably adapted to the plan of making a separate drawing for each piece. The whole combined drawing is not generally traced, but the separate pieces are picked 290 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES out from it. All our working drawings are blue-prints of separate pieces. "Each drawer contains fifty tracings. They are 21 inches deep, which is enough to hold several times as many, but this number is all that is convenient to keep together. Each drawing is marked in stencil on the margin in the lower right-hand corner, and also with inverted plates in the upper left-hand corner, with the letter of the drawer and the number of the drawing, as, for example, 3F-31 ; so that whichever way the sheet is put in the drawer, this appears at the front right-hand corner. The drawings in each drawer are numbered separately, fifty being thus the highest number used. " For reference we depend on our indices. Each tracing when completed is entered under its letter in the numerical index, and is given the next consecutive number. From this index the title and the number are copied into other indices, under as many dif- ferent headings as possible. Thus all the drawings of any engine, or tool, or machine whatever, become assembled in the index by their titles under the heading of such particular engine or tool or machine. So also the drawings of any particular piece, of all sizes and styles, become assembled by their titles under the name of such piece. However numerous the drawings, and however great the variety of their subjects, the location of any one is, by this means, found as readily as a word in a dictionary. The stencil marks copy, of course, on the blue-prints, and these, when not in use, are kept in the same manner as the tracings, except that only twenty-five are placed in one drawer. "We employ printed classified lists of the separate pieces con- stituting every steam-engine, the manufacture of which is the sole business of these works, and on these, against the name of every piece, is given the drawer and number of the drawing on which it is represented. The office copies of these lists afford an additional mode of reference, and a very convenient one, used in practice almost exclusively. The foreman sends for the prints by the stencil marks, and these are thus got directly without reference to any index. They are charged in the same way, and reference to the numerical index gives the title of any missing print. "We find the different sizes to be used quite unequally. The ADVICE OF MR. MORGAN 291 method of making a separate tracing of each piece, which we carry to a great extent, causes the smaller sizes to multiply quite rapidly. We are also marking our patterns with the stencil of the drawings, as well as gauges, templets, and jigs. "It is found best to permit the sheets to be put away by one person only, who also writes up the indices, which are kept in the fire-proof vault. " We have ourselves been surprised at the saving of room which this system has effected. Probably less than one fourth the space is occupied that the same drawings would require if classified according to subjects. The system is completely elastic. Work of the most diverse character might be undertaken every day, and the drawings of each article would find places ready to receive them." It will be observed that in planning the sizes of sheets I was limited to antiquarian paper. Now no limitation exists. I should to-day increase the number of sizes. The whole summer passed, many had taken trips to Europe and back, when about the middle of September Mr. Morgan noti- fied the chairman that he had received the expert's report and requested him to call a meeting of the subscribers to hear it. I went to the meeting with mingled hope and apprehension. Mr. Morgan read a long letter from the expert containing an elaborate argument against the patent which he concluded by saying that he could not recommend its acceptance. When Mr. Morgan had finished reading the letter he continued: '*Mr. Chair- man, I am tired of this man's delays and quibbling, and I now advise you that Mr. Porter has performed his contract, and it only remains for you to perform yours." This was the harvest from the seed I had sown six months before. The following is the Reissue on which the patent expert hung up our business for six months. The specification was written by me, the disclaimer and claims were written by Chief Examiner Fowler. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE John F. Allen of Brooklyn, Assignor to George T. Hope, OF Bay Ridge, N. Y., and Charles T. Porter, of Philadelphia, Pa. Balanced Valve. specification forming part of Reissued Letters Patent No. 9303, dated July 20, 1880. Original No. 167865, dated September 21, 1875. Application for reissue filed June 2, 1880. To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, John F. Allen, formerly of the city, county, and State of New York, but now of Brooklyn, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Balanced Slide Valves, of which improvements the follow- ing is a specification. My invention relates to that class of balanced slide-valves in which the valve is practically relieved from the pressure of the steam, this pressure being sustained by a plate supported above the valve, but so nearly in contact with it that the space between them will not admit steam enough to affect the valve. Such plates are designated as ^'pressure" plates, and have been made in some instances adjustable, m order that they may be closed up to the valve as the faces of the valve and its seat be- come worn. Heretofore such adjustments have been affected by different mechanical devices, among which there was, in one instance, a spring to move the plate laterally or crosswise of the valve while the pressure of the steam held the plate down; and in other instances screws were used to move the plate in two directions, both in line with the movement of the valve, and to hold the plate in its adjusted position. All of these devices, however, are liable to objections well understood by engineers. It is the object of my invention to obviate these objections in a balanced slide-valve; and to this end my improvements consist in utilizing the pressure of the steam for giving motion to the pressure-plate down inclined supports and toward the valve; in employing supports inclined to the face of the valve at a steep angle, considerably exceeding the angle of repose of 292 PATENT ON PRESSURE PLATE 293 the metal, so that the pressure of the steam on the upper sur- face of the pressure-plate may be relied on for givmg to it the above-described motion, and in employing an adjustable stop to prevent the pressure of the steam from forcing the pressure- plate into too close contact with the valve. In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a transverse section through a steam- chest in which my improved balanced slide-valve is applied, the section being on the line zzoi Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is a longi- tudinal section on the line y y o( Fig. 1. The valve A is fitted upon its seat in the steam-chest B, and moved to and fro over the ports in the usual manner. The back of the valve is a plane surface, parallel with its face. Along the sides of the steam-chest I provide two parallel guides — one. 294 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES 6, inclined downward and outward, and the other, 6', inclined upward and outward, as shown in Fig. 1, from a point in the same plane with the back of the valve and at an angle consid- erably greater than the angle of repose of the metal. Theo- retically, the plate should move down its inclined supports if the angle of inclination exceeds at all the angle of repose; but practically, under conditions, often unfavorable, existing in the steam-chest to render the action certain, this angle should be largely in excess, as shown in the model and drawings. In the instance shown I have provided chambers G at the ends of the steam-chest, through which the steam may pass over the ends of the pressure-plate to the ports ; but any other approved passage for the steam may be provided. The pressure-plate C fits snugly in the steam-chest length- wise, and moves freely in it crosswise. This plate has an open- ing in the top and a hollow center, so that the steam entering at the top passes through the center and into the chambers G, at the ends of the steam-chest. The bottom of this plate has a plane surface, parallel with the back of the valve A, and be- yond this plane surface it has lateral inclines c c', parallel with the lateral inclines b V on the sides of the steam-chest, so that when the plate is in place its lateral inclines rest upon and fit closely to the inclines on the chest, thus supporting the plane surface of the bottom of the plate close to the top of the valve. The width of the plate being less than that of the chest B, it will be seen that the plate in this position would have a cer- tain range of movement upon the inclines crosswise of the steam- chest. A screw-stop, H, passes through the steam-chest, and bears upon the adjacent side of the pressure-plate, which will still be free to be moved crosswise of the valve. The operation is as follows: The stop H being adjusted to the point at which it is desired to maintain the pressure- plate, the pressure of the steam will act upon the plate and tend to force it down the inclines h V crosswise of the valve and against the stop, which will thus determine the range of movement of the plate and the relation between its plane surface and the back of the valve. At the same time the stop, being entirely independent of or disconnected from the plate, can be re- adjusted as required to compensate for any wear upon the sur- faces of the valve or its seat, and the steam will at all times maintain the plate at the point determined by the adjustment of the stop. This adjustment is, of course, made without open- ing the steam-chest. I do not claim the employment of inclined supports by a MB. MERRICK'S CONFESSION 295 movement along which the pressure-plate is caused to approach or to recede from the valve, since this device has been already the subject of patent; but I claim as my own invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent — 1. A balance-valve provided with a pressure-plate acted upon by steam-pressure and having a downward and lateral movement through means of steep inclines, as shown, as and for the purpose set forth. 2. A balance-valve provided with a pressure-plate repos- ing upon steep inclines, as shown, and suitable means for limit- ing its movement upon the inclines, the said plate being held down by steam-pressure, as and for the purpose set forth. John F. Allen. Witnesses: De Witt Bogardus, j. w. durbrow. Mr. Morgan's advice was received by the meeting with a feeling of relief from a long suspense; it was at once accepted unanimously, and the temporary organization was made per- manent. The directors immediately convened. Before proceed- ing to the transaction of business one of the directors said to me: "Mr. Porter, you have now been in the Sout h wark Fou ndry for six months, and I understand that not a single engine has been sent out from that place in all that time; will you tell us why this is so? " I had then an opportunity of witnessing a nobility of soul such as few persons meet with in the whole course of their lives. Mr. Merrick rose and said: "I will save Mr. Porter the trouble of answering that question. Mr. Porter has not sent a single engine out of these works because he has not had a smgle tool with which he could make an engine. I thought I knew all about those tools when, last March, I assured you and Mr. Porter he would find everything he could possibly desire, when the fact was I knew nothing about them. I have been through those tools carefully with Mr. Goodfellow and have seen for myself that not one of them could produce work fit to be put m these engines. While I am about it I wish to make another confession: I said then, and you all agreed with me, that it could not be expected that the manufacture of these engines could 296 ENOINEERINQ REMINISCENCES employ all the resources of that great establishment, and so we left the door open for the return to it of the class of work which had formerly occupied it; but from what I have myself seen in the six months I have been there I am able to say to you that if the works had possessed the resources which I really believed they did possess, these would have been insufficient to meet the demand for these engines which has come to us from all parts of the country and for many different kinds of business. Mr. Porter knew what he wanted and the demand that might reasonably be expected; I had no conception of the one or the other. It is a great pity that we did not then give him the means he asked for, and I hope this will be done now." Mr. Henry Lewis spoke up and said: "What did Mr. Porter ask for? I have no recollection of his asking us for anything at all." None of the directors could remember anything about it; the letter which I had addressed to the chairman had even disappeared. Luckily, however, I had made a copy of it, and I produced the letter-book, in which it was the first letter copied, and read them this copy. I should say here that I have inquired at the works for this letter-book, but have been told by Mr. Brooks, the president, that all correspondence more than twenty years old having no legal value had been destroyed. When I had finished, Mr. Lewis exclaimed: "Did you write that letter? " "I did, sir," I replied. "Well," he said, "I suppose I must have heard it, but I have not the faintest recollection of it." All said the same thing except Mr. Merrick, as it had brought out his reply. This illustrates the indifference of the directors at that time to anything that came from me. An earnest disposition was now manifested to make all the amends possible; the $100,000 which I had asked for was immediately appropriated. In view of the utter barrenness of the works I was asked if it had not better be made $200,000, but this I did not favor. I told them I would rather proceed more slowly, especially as many of the old tools might be made serviceable when we should have perfect tools with which to refit them. So at last I had triumphed at every point, but at what a cost, 0, what a costt With a number of other engineers I attended, by invitation, a meeting held at the office of the American Machinist, February 16». STRENGTH IN MACHINE TOOLS 297 1880, which determined upon the organization of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and soon after I had the honor of being invited to read a paper at the first regular meeting of this society, held in the auditorium of the Stevens Institute at Hobo- ken, N. J., on the 7th of April following. The date of this meeting, it will be observed, fell during the time when the Philadelphia expert was racking his brains to concoct for me an application for a patent reissue which he felt sure could not be allowed. I read the following paper : ''This association can vindicate its right to exist only by exerting a constant beneficial influence upon engineering practice in all its departments. At the outset of its career it should take a progressive attitude, planting itself upon sound principles of con- struction, aiming to inspire the engineers of our country with the highest conception of mechanical truth, and to diffuse a correct understanding of the means and methods' by which this truth is to be attained. '* As one subject of primary importance, I wish to present that of §trengtlL-in. machine tools. Truth of construction, facility of operation, and range of application are all, in one sense, subordinate to this fundamental quality of strength; for they are in a greater or less degree impaired where adequate strength is not provided. "But what is adequate strength? On this point there exists among the makers and users of tools a wide diversity of opinion. On examination it will be found that this diversity coincides with the diversity in mechanical sensibility. As the mechanical sense is developed, there arises in just the same degree the demand for greater strength in machine tools. ''To the mechanic who has never formed a notion of a division of an inch more exact than 'a bare 32d/ one tool, if it can in any way be kept from chattering, is as good as another, and better if it is cheaper. "To those, on the other hand, who demand in every piece, as it comes from the tool, the closest approach to perfection, both in form and finish, a degree of strength in the tool appears, and is demonstrated, to be indispensable that to the former class seems as absurd as the results attained by means of it appear in- credible. 298 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES "In this country, as indeed all over the world, the standard of mechanical truth has been very low. It is here, however, as everywhere, rapidly rising. The multitude are being educated up to the standard of the few. In this work members of this associa- tion have borne and now bear an honorable part. Just in the degree that the standard of mechanical excellence is raised must the demand become more general for greater strength in machine tools, as indispensable to its attainment. "But what is the standard of strength? The anvil affords perhaps its best illustration. It is a strength enormously beyond that which prevents a tendency to chatter, a strength that under even the heaviest labor prevents the least vibration of any part of the tool, or any indication of effort more than if the object being cut were a mass of butter. "It will be seen that this absolute solidity in machine tools, while truth cannot be attained without it, enables also mechanical operations generally to be performed with far greater expedition, and- the subsequent work of the finisher to be in any case much diminished and often dispensed with entirely. "We are enabled in most cases to come at once to the form desired, whatever may be the quantity of material to be removed, and always to finish the siu-face with a degree of truth and polish otherwise unattainable, dispensing in a great measure with the use of that abomination, the file. "Now, with this standard in our minds we look over the face of the land and behold it covered with rubbish. "It is curious to observe how ingenious toolmakers have gener- ally been in trying to avoid this quality of strength, and how decep- tive an appearance in this respect many tools present. "It is interesting also to note how little this quality of solidity adds to the cost of castings. The addition is merely so much more pig-iron and really not that, because in the stove-plate style the forms are more complicated, the patterns more expensive and frail, and the cost of molding is greater. But what signifies even a considerable increase in the first cost of a tool that in daily use is to perform the work of many and is to place its possessor on a mechanical eminence? "It is not the purpose of this paper to enter into details, inter- INVENTIOX OF TOOLS 299 esting and important as these are, but to draw attention to the subject in a general way. The improvement observed quite recently in this respect, as well as in other points of tool construction, is highly gratifying and encourages the expectation of still further and more general progress." The following summer I employed some of my leisure time in making the plans for a couple of machine tools. One of these was a double-drilling machine for boring the boxes of connecting-rods, there being then no such machine in existence to my knowledge. I had been planning such a machine in my mind as long ago as when I was in the works of Ormerod, Grierson & Co., in Manchester, England, in 1864-5. This tool was designed first to bore the two boxes simultaneously and rapidly, and, secondly, to bore them with absolute accuracy in their distance apart and in the intersec- tion by their axes of the axis of the rod at right angles in the same plane, and all this without measurement or setting out or the pos- sibility of error. The other tool was comparatively a small affair. I utilized an old milling-machine for facing simultaneously the oppo- site sides of nuts and taking the roughing and finishing cuts at the same time. The ends of the nuts were first faced on a special man- drel which insured their being normal to the axis of the thread. A string of these nuts was then threaded on a mandrel fitting the top of their threads and some 15 or 18 inches long, on which they were held against a hardened collar, the diameter of which was equal to the distance between their opposite finished faces. The cutting tools were set in two disks about 12 inches in diameter; they were set about an inch apart alternately in two circles, one about one eighth of an inch inside the other, and were held in position by set-screws in the periphery. The cutters in the outer circles did the roughing; those in the inner circles were set projecting about 0.001 of an inch beyond the roughing tools and finished the surfaces. The mandrel was set between centers, and the string of nuts was supported from the table at the middle of its length. The nuts were ^secured in position by a dividing plate on the forward center- bearing. What was done with the two drawings I will state pres- ently. My success, as already related, came so swiftly and completely after six months of anxiety as to be almost overwhelming. The 300 ENOINEERINO REMINISCENCES more I thought about it the more ecstatic I became; all my disas- ters had been of a nature the effect of which time would soon efface. I was full of high anticipations, I could see no cloud in the sky; I awakened to my old zeal and energy and set myself eagerly to the work of providing new equipment, unable to realize the real help- lessness of my position. Little did I dream that I was already doomed to drink to its dregs the bitter cup of responsibility without authority. That story will come soon enough; now I will ask the reader to accompany me in my work of filling the shop with new tools. My principal orders were sent to my old friends, Smith & Cov- entry, in England. Among others I sent one for my double-drilling machine with the drawings. I received a reply from them stating that they had just furnished a similar machine to the firm of Hick, Hargreaves & Company, the eminent engine-builders of Bolton, and that they thought I would prefer their design for this machine, of which they sent a blue print, to my own. I should think I did prefer it; it was simply wonderful, It presented one feature of especial interest, which was that the two drills were driven in- dependently and when not employed on connecting-rods could be applied to any other drilling work. So I ordered that tool, and its work fully justified my expectations. I ordered from them sev- eral planers, the largest one passing a body five feet square. The planers they sent me had two novel features which filled me with admiration. The tables were provided with broad, flat shoes running on corresponding flat guides, the sideways wear being taken up by an adjustable gib on one side. This construc- tion enables the bearing surfaces to be made one true plane from end to end, making cross-wind impossible. The next feature by which these planers were distinguished was the mode of lubricating these surfaces. Each guide was provided in the middle of its length with an oil-well which was a large square box, formed in the casting. In the middle of this box was a small rod on which two levers were pivoted, the arms of which were of equal length. At one end these arms carried a roller, and at the other end a weight considerably heavier than the roller. The roller was thus kept up against the under side of the shoe, while its lower side ran in the oil; thus the lubrication was effected by the revolution of this 5 UlMlVL:':i'TY 1 t^RDERS FOR TOOLS 301 roDer, which needed to be only one half the width of the face lubricated; this was found to be the perfection of lubrication. The tables were very stiff and were provided only with T slots from end to end for holding the work. I built a one-story addition to the erecting-floor, about 40x100 feet, occupying a space which had before been used mostly as a stable. I divided this into two bays by columns, and provided each bay with an overhead traveler of about five tons capacity, worked by rope loops hanging to the floor. These were also made for me by Smith & Coventry. I ordered from Mr. Moore, of Philadelphia, one or two of the heavy and powerful lathes built by him for turning chilled rolls. I also ordered a six-foot square planer from the Hewes & Phillips Iron Works in Newark, which they made expressly heavy, having become infected with my ideas on that subject. From Pratt & Whitney I ordered one large lathe and one or two small planers, and other tools from several other American makers. In one instance only I was disappointed; that was the case of a 12-foot horizontal turning and boring machine. On examina- ing the blue-prints which were sent me at my request, I was struck with the lightness of the table, and conditioned my order on this being made twice as heavy, which was done. If I had made the same requirement for every other part of the machine, I should have done a good thing for both the builders and myself. The table ran on a circular track, which was superbly designed. This track consisted of a circular trough perhaps 8 or 10 inches wide, and in the middle of it a bearing surface for the table, raised per- haps half an inch above the bottom of the trough and half an inch lower than its sides. This bearing surface was about 6 inches wide and was intersected by diagonal grooves about a foot apart. Oil could stand in this trough above the level of the bearing sur- faces. I made a little improvement on the method of supplying the oil. As sent, a dose of oil was poured through a hole in the table, which was filled with a screw plug when not required to be used. I screwed a plug into that hole to stay, and drilled a hole in the bottom of the trough, in which I screwed a J-inch pipe that I carried under the bottom of the machine, and up behind one of the uprights to a higher level, and in the end of this pipe I screwed 302 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES a sight-feed oil-cup. I provided a drain-pipe, which would main- tain the oil in the trough at the desired level, while it was fed to the trough continually, drop by drop, as required. This table came with an imperfectly finished bearing surface. I set several men at work to bed these surfaces properly, and did a fine job of scraping on them. When it was finished, I pulled the table aroimd with one hand, it floating dry on the air caught between the two sur- faces. When we came to use the tool it chattered, and would do so however light the cut we were taking; every part of it was too light and vibrated, except the table. After all, it was the best tool of this kind and size that I could have got in this country. If made of proper strength I should have been able to use four cutting tools in the work, each leaving a perfectly smooth surface; but that was a degree of strength and usefulness that builders at that time had not dreamed of. One of the first of our smaller engines, 10x20 inches, I built for ourselves, setting it in a location convenient for transmitting power to both the machine- and erecting-shops. The job of taking the cross-wind out of the great planer inter- ested me perhaps more than anything else, on account of its diffi- culty. It was a long time before I could decide how to go about it; besides the cross-wind, the guides were not parallel; at one end the V's on the table bore on one side, and at the other end on the opposite side. I finally made an apparatus consisting of two V's about three feet long, and connected by a cross-bar on which was set a spirit-level having a ground bubble. Another similar level was set on top of one of the Vs. With this apparatus, which was strong enough and was finished in the most perfect manner, and a brass wire, I was able to determine beforehand what was neces- sary to be done at every point in the guides. To finish this job on the bed, and afterwards on the V's under the table, required fully three months' work, including the time spent in preparing the apparatus, a job I could not begin until I had our new planers. When it was done I was able to make a perfect job of the great engine beds already mentioned, and other work which was waiting for it. Among the old tools was one large drilling-machine, the size of which and the strength of its framing impressed me very favorably; SELLING OLD TOOLS 303 but when we came to use it we found it would not drill a round hole. This defect could doubtless have been remedied by grinding the spindle, when we got a tool in which to do it, and fitting new boxes. It was determined, however, by Mr. Goodfellow and ray- self, that it would not be worth while to bother with it, because it had been so badly designed that the two traversing screws for the compound table, with which it was furnished, were located cen- trally, and so crossed each other exactly under the spindle. It was therefore impossible to use a boring-bar in this tool, and its usefulness was ridiculously disproportioned to its size. The con- trast between it and the Smith & Coventry drill, which was set in its place, was really wonderful. We had no trouble in disposing of this and all other rejected tools to parties who were delighted to get them cheap. It took us about six months to get rid of all the rubbish and fill the works with the best tools then obtainable, though still deficient in many respects, as, for instance, the great planer, which had only one cutting tool on the cross-slide, whereas a planer of that size should be provided with four cutting tools — two on the cross-slide and one on each upright, and should be twice as heavy. One of the first engines we sold was to D. M. Osborne & Co., the celebrated makers of mowers and reapers in Auburn, for driving their rolling mill. This was 18 X 30-inch engine, making 150 revolutions per minute, and was the fifth engine I had fur- nished to different industries in my native town. Twenty- five years afterwards I saw this engine running. They had increased its speed. By means of a large ball on projec- tions of the forked lever they were able to very the speed from 200 revolutions to 250 revolutions per minute, according to the sizes they were rolling. I observed that, as our facilities for doing work were increased, the belief that I was unable to execute orders became general through the country, and applications, at first numerous, dwindled to almost nothing. United and well-directed action would soon have put a new face on matters, but now I was to meet with obstacles that time could not overcome. Mr. Merrick was an amiable and high-toned gentleman, whose sole aim was so do his duty; but he was exactly the wrong man 304 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES for the place. He was not an engineer or mechanic. In the firm of S. V. Merrick & Sons he had been the oflSce man. He was entirely a man of routine. He seemed obtuse to a mechanical reason for doing or not doing anything. Of course he knew noth- ing about my business. He was impressed with the idea of the omnipotence of the president, which in his case was true, as the directors would unanimously approve of whatever he might do. He at once deprived me of the power of appointment and discharge in my own department, arrogating all authority to himself. In addition he was naturally a very reserved man. I may say secre- tive. He consulted me about nothmg. I never knew what he proposed to do or was doing until I found out afterwards. He had grandly confessed his first two blunders, but unfortunately he continued to make mistakes equally serious to the end of the chapter. About the first order we had was from a company formed for lighting the streets in Philadelphia with arc lights, of which Thomas Dolan, a prominent manufacturer in Philadelphia, was president. Our order was for eight engines, 8x16 inches, to drive eight Brush dynamos each of 40-light power. The order was given to Mr. Merrifik. I never saw Mr. Dolan; his own mill was at the northern end of the city, and he met Mr. Merrick by appointment at lunch in the business center, to which confer- ences I was never invited. When the plant was in operation I heard Incidentally that they had a new engineer at the electric- light works, and I thought I would go up and make his acquaint- ance. I went the same evening. I was met at the door by a stranger who politely showed me the plant. I did not introduce myself. He asked me if I were interested in electric lighting. I told him I was not but might be. He said it was his duty to warn me against the use of high-speed engines; he should not have advised these, but found them already installed when he took charge of the place, and he was doing the best he could to make them answer for the present, but the works would be greatly en- larged after a while, when these engines would be gotten rid of and proper engines substituted in place of them. He called his assistant to corroborate his statement of the difficulty they had in getting along with them. I listened to these outrageous false- CALL ON MR. DOLAN. 305 hocxls and looked around and saw the eight engines running smoothly and silently at 280 revolutions per minute, each engine exerting the power of four engines of the same size, at the old maximum speed of 70 revolutions per minute, and giving absolutely uniform motion without a fly-wheel, and said nothing. The next morning I made an early call on Mr. Dolan at his office. I introduced myself to him, although I think he knew me by sight. I told him the state of affairs I found at the electric-light station and received from him in reply the following astounding statement. He said: ''Mr. Porter, when this company w^as formed I selected the Southwark Foundry as our engineers. I had previously b come acquainted with the run- ning of some of your engines and had come to the conclusion that they were just what we needed; accordingly I ordered our first engines from you. I assmn d the engineering department of this enterprise to be in your hands, and that you would be repre- sented here by an engineer selected by yourselves and devoted to your interest. Accordingly, when your men had finished their job I applied to your president to send me an engineer. He sent me a workman. That w^as not the kind of man I asked him for; the engines were in charge of workmen already from your own works. I wanted an educated man who could represent us in the courts and before the city councils— in short, an engineering head for this business, now in its infancy, but which was expected to grow to large proportions. He ought to have known what I wanted, or if he did not he should have asked me; his whole manner was entirely indifferent, he seemed to take no interest in the enterprise. "Seeing I could get no help from Mr. Merrick , I applied to William Sellers for an engineer. He sent me a young man from his drawing-office, and I soon found out he was not the man I wanted; he knew nothing about a steam-engine — was merely a machine-tool draftsman — so I found I must rely upon myself. The only man I could think of was this man I have. He had done some good work for me tw^o or three years ago in repairing one of my engines, so I offered him the position, which he accepted. I knew nothing of his engineering preferences; he seems to be doing very well, and I am afraid he will have to stay; '' and stay he did. 306 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES The result was most remarkable. A demand for electric-light- ing plants was springing up in all parts of the country. This became widely known as a pioneer plant, and was visited daily by parties who were interested in such projects. These visitors were met at the door by the engineer and his assistant and were warned, just as I was, to have nothing to do with a high-speed engine. They were always business men, quite ignorant of ma- chinery, and with whom the testimony of two practical men who had experience with the engines and were actuated in their advice by a sense of duty was conclusive. The result was that we never had a single application to supply engines for electric lighting. Yes, we did have one application; a man came into the office when I was there alone and gave me an order for his mill and apologized to me for giving it. He said the place where he was obliged to locate his lighting plant was so limited, he found he could not get in the engine he wanted. This result I felt especially exasperated at when a year afterwards the secretary of the lighting company, who had his office at the station, told me that he had done something of which he knew his directors would not approve; he had sold every light they were able to furnish. He had felt safe in doing this, because no one of the engines had failed them for an instant. For his part he could not see what those men were there for — they had absolutely nothing to do except to start and stop the engines as required and attend to the oiling. Their principal occupation seemed to be waiting on visitors. This great disaster Would have been avoided if Mr. Merrick had conferred with me with respect to Mr. Dolan's most important request. We should have had a man there who woukl have told the truth about the engines, and would have impressed every visitor with the enormous advantage of the high-speed engine, not only for that service, but also for every use to which steam power can be applied. It will be observed that this disaster was widespread and con- tinuous. It not only caused a great immediate loss, but its ulti- mate injury was beyond all computation. Its effect was that the Porter-Allen engine was shut out of the boundless field of MR. EDISON'S PLANS 307 generating electricity for light and power purposes, a field which was naturally its own. The following story is too good to keep, although the incident had no effect that I am aware of to accelerate my downward prog- ress. While in Newark I had built for Mr. Edison an engine for his experimental plant at Menlo Park. The satisfaction this engine gave may be judged by what follows: One day I had a call from Mr. Edison, accompanied by Charles L. Clarke, his engineer. They had been walking very rapidly, and Mr. Edison, who was rather stout, was quite out of breath. As soon as they were seated, with- out waiting to recover his wind Mr. Edison began, ejaculating each sentence while catching his breath: ''Want a thousand engines.'' "Thousand engines." ''Want you to make the plans for them." "Have all the shops in New England working on the parts." " Bring them here to be assembled." "Thousand engines." In the conversation that followed I gently let Mr. Edison down, not to the earth, but in sight of it. The result was that two or three weeks afterwards I was injudicious enough to accept from him an order for twenty-four engines, luckily all of one size and type. This was to be a rush order, but it called for new drawings and patterns, as he wanted a special proportion of diameter and stroke, larger diameter and shorter stroke than those in my table. Before the drawings and patterns were completed, Mr. Edison, or the people associated with him, discovered that they had no place to put more than six of these engines, so the order was reduced to six. These were for a station which was being prepared on the west side of Pearl Street, a few doors south of Fulton, New York City. Three of these engines were finished first. After they had been running a few days a defect of some kind, the nature of which I never knew, was discovered, and Mr. Edison's attention was called to it. He charged it to the engine, and exclaimed impetuously, "Turn them out, turn them out!" It was represented to him, however, that they could hardly do this, as they were under con- tract for a considerable amount of light and power, and the current was being furnished satisfactorily. "Well," said he, "we'll have no more of them at any rate," so the order for the remaining three engines was countermanded, and three Armington & Sims engines were ordered in place of them. When these were started the 308 ENQINEERINQ REMINISCENCES same difficulty appeared with them also. A fresh investigation dis- closed the fact that the difficulty was entu-ely an electrical one, and the engines had nothing to do with it. Mr. Clarke claimed that had been his belief from the beginning. So the thousand engines dwindled to three engines sold and three thrown back on our hands. The two triplets ran together harmoniously until in the development of the electrical business that station was aban- doned. Directly after we began to do work, Mr. E. D. Leavitt brought us the business of the Calumet and Hecia mine. This was then the largest copper mine in the country, owned by a Boston company of which Mr. Agassiz, son of the great naturalist, was president. He brought it to me personally on account of his admiration for the engine, and also for the character of work which I had inaugurated. His first order was for an engine of moderate size. While that was build- ing he brought us a small order for a repair job, amounting perhaps to a couple of hundred dollars. That work was spoiled in the shop by some blunder and had to be thrown away and made over again. By accident I saw the bill for that job; a green boy brought it from the treasurer's desk for Mr. Merrick's approval. We both happened to be out, and by mistake he laid it on my side of the table. I came in first, picked it up and read it, and saw that it was for the full amount of the material and work that had been put on the job. It seemed to me quite double what it ought to be. I laid it on Mr. Merrick's side and, when he came in, told him how I came to see it, and I thought it should not be sent, being so greatly increased by our own fault. '*0h," said he, "they are rich; they won't mind it." I said: ''That is no. the question with me; I don't think it is just to charge our customers for our own blunders." He smiled at my innocence, saying: *'If a machine-shop does not make its customers pay for its blunders, it will soon find itself in the poorhouse." "Well," said I, "I protest against this bill being sent." However, it was sent, and in the course of a few days a check came for the full amount, and Mr. Merrick, laughed at me. Weeks and months passed away and we had heard no more from Mr. Leavitt, when I met him in New York at a meeting of the council of the Society of E. D. Leavitt MR. MERRICK'S USURPATION 309 Mechanical Engineers. When the meeting was over he invited me to walk with him, and said to me: **I suppose you have observed that I have not visited the Southw ark Foundry lately." I told him I had observed it. He then said: '*I)o you remember that bill?" I told him I did very well, and how vainly I had protested against its being sent. He said: ''When that bill was brought to me for approval, I hesitated about putting my initials to it until I had shown it to Mr. Agassiz. I told him what the job was and the bill was quite twice as large as I had expected. He replied, 'Pay it, but don't go to them any more,' and I have taken our work to the Dickson Manufacturing Company at Scran- ton." I realized that I had lost the most influential engineering friend I had since the death of Mr. Holley. I heard some years after, and believe it, though I do not vouch for its correctness, that the work sent to the Dickson Manufacturing Company through Mr. Leavitt had in one year exceeded one hundred thousand dollars. Some time previous to these events, Mr. Merrick had done a very high-handed thing. Assuming supreme power as president of the company, he had invaded my department, and, without a word to me, had appointed over Mr. Goodfellow a superintendent to suit himself, reducing Mr. GrOodftUdw to be general foreman of the machine-shop, to take his ordeppfrcpi the new superintendent and not from me, whereupon Mr. GoodJ^oW resigned, and accepted a position as master mechanic in the Pennsylvania Steel Works, and by his advice the engine ordered by them from me was taken from the Southwark Foundry in its incomplete condition and finished by themselves under Mr. Goodfellow's direction. Mr. Merrick then filled Mr. Goodfellow's place with another friend of his own as general foreman, a man who would have been as valuable as a stick of wood but for his incessant blunders. I was fully alive to the arbitrary nature of this usurpation, but was entirely helpless, knowing perfectly well that the directors would sustain the president in whatever he did. With the coming of the new superintendent, the fatal change took place. He came, first of all, full of the superiority of Phila- delphia mechanics, and, second, feeling that in the nature of things I must be entirely ignorant of anything mechanical. I was noth- 310 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES ing but a New York lawyer; never did a day's work in a shop in my life; had gone into a business I was not educated to and knew nothing about. My presuming to give orders to mechanics, and Philadelphia mechanics too, filled him with indignation. He would not take an order from me — perish the thought — and as for my drawings, he would depart from them as much as he liked. All this appeared by degrees. I observed on the floor several cylinders fitted up, in which the followers for the piston-rod stuffing-boxes were made sliding fits on the rods. I asked him why he had made them in this way when they were drawn and figured to be bored A inch larger than the rod. He replied, *' Because this is the way they ought to be.'' I told him every one of them would be fired before the engine had run an hour; that I wanted him to bore those followers to the drawings, as well as the cylinder heads back of the stuffing-boxes. *'It shall be done, sir," said he. On examining them after this had been done, I found he had turned as much off from the outside of the followers as he had bored out of the hole. I asked him why he had done that. He said he supposed if I wanted the inside to be loose, I wanted the outside to be loose too. I told him I did not. He asked me why. I told him he was not there to argue with me; I wanted him to throw those followers away and make new ones precisely to the drawings, and I saw to it myself that it was done. I went to Mr. Merrick about this matter, and can the reader im- agine what his reply was? "My advice to you, Mr. Porter, is to leave all such matters to the superintendent." Think of it; an amateur president assuming the direction of my business, and giving such advice to me, who never had left the least thing to anybody, and without considering the fact that the action of his superintendent would be ruinous, except for my interference. I realized that I was absolutely alone, but I felt very much Hke fighting the whole world. The above incident is a fair sample of my constant experience. I was on the watch all the time. Many times I required the work to be done over when the superintendent departed from my drawings, and in doing it over he generally contrived to ruin the job, and would say, "Just according to your orders, sir." I was reminded of a story told of Samuel T. Wellman MB. OTIS' ENGINE 311 Dr. Beman, a minister of Troy, N. Y., whose wife was peculiar, to say the least. On a certain occasion the presbytery met in Troy, and one evening he invited its members to his house, and told his wife to provide just a light supper. When they were ushered into the supper-room there was nothing on the table but lighted candles. "A light supper," said she, "just as you ordered, sir." I proposed to appoint an inspector to represent me. The general foreman said if an inspector were appointed he should resign, and Mr. Merrick forbade it. Was ever a man in so help- less and ridiculous a position? The second of the large engines which I finished was for the Otis Steel Works. I went to Cleveland myself to start the engine and found that Mr. Welhnan, the general manager, had it running already. Mr. Otis, the president, was very much pleased with it, and well he might be. This was the first mill to roll plates from the ingot to the finish without reheating. Foitor-AUeii Bnglno-lO -x Otis Ixt>n and stael Co. MUm. These were the kind of diagrams it made. It will be observed that these were taken at different times and under different pressures. Unfortunately the right hand one is the only diagram I have from the crank end of the cylinder. In rolling these heavy plates the changes were made instantaneously from full load to nothing and from nothing to full load. The engine made 93 revolutions per minute, and it will be seen that the changes were made by the governor in a third of a second or less, the speed not varying sensibly. Mr. Otis said to me: "Oh, Mr. Porter, what shall I do with you? You cannot imagine the loss I have suffered from yom- delay in fm-nishing this engine." I said: "Mr. Otis, you know the terrible time I have had, and that I have done the very best I could." "Yes," he said, "I know aU about it." He 312 EXGINEERINQ REMINISCENCES had, in fact, been to Philadelphia and seen for himself. He added: ^' You make a small engine suitable for electric lights; what is the price of an engine maintaining twenty-five arc lights?" I told him $1050. ''Well," said he, "you strike off the odd fifty and let me have one for a thousand dollars, and we will call it square," so I had some sunshine on my way. I present a portrait of this just man. The engine is now running as good as new after twenty-five years, and the company five or six years afterwards put in another 48 x 66-inch to drive a still larger train. I had a funny experience at the Cambria Works which has always seemed to me to have been prophetic. In August, 1881, the Society of Mechanical Engineers held a meeting in Altoona, and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company gave us an excursion to Johnstown to visit the works of the Cambria Company. The anticipations of the members were expressed by Jackson Bailey, then the editor of the American Machinist. As I was going through a car in which he was seated he called out to me, "This is your day. Porter." The party was taken in charge by Mr. Morrell, the general manager. Our route took us first to their new blast- furnaces, where considerable time was spent in examining then- new and interesting features. Next we came to my second engine, started some two months before. The engine was just being slowed down; we were told there were not yet furnaces enough to keep the train running continuously, so they were shut down from half an hour to an hour between heats, and a heat had just been run off. We went next to see my rail-mill engine, which had raised the output of that mill 150 per cent. That too had been shut down. They had just broken a roll, a most rare accident and one which I had never before seen or heard of there. "Well, gentlemen," said I, "at any rate I can show you my engine driving a cold saw." Arrived at the spot, we found that all still, and were told that sawing cold rails was not a continuous operation, we had hit upon the noon hour, and the men had gone to their dinner. That was the end of the show, as far as I was concerned. The Gautier Works were a mile away and were not included in our visit, so we were entertained with the great blooming-mill in operation and the casting of the enormous ingots for it, and after the customary luncheon and speeches we returned to Altoona. Charlss a. Otis TRICKS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 313 One day the superintendent came into the office and told me he had tried my machine for facing nuts and it would not work. I felt disappointed, because I had confidence in it. I went out to see what the matter was, and at a glance I saw that it had been ingeniously arranged not to work. The feed had been made rapid and the cutting motion very slow, so that the tools could not take their cuts and the slow-moving belt ran off the pulleys. I did not Porter-Allen Engine 4o*x 48* #307 Dash pot for Govemor. reduce the feed-motion, but increased the speed of the cutters and the belt some eight or ten-fold, when the trouble vanished. I never knew anything to work better than that tool did. The burning anxiety of the superintendent was to show up my ignorance. A first-rate chance to do so soon seemed to present itself. The counterpoise of the governor of the Otis engine dropped instantly to its seat when a plate struck the rolls and as instantly rose to the top of its range of action when it left them. This made a noisy blow which was disagreeable and might in time cause an accident. Mr. 314 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES Wellman sent me a sketch of a device he had thought of for arrest- ing this motion by air-cushions. I told the superintendent to have that apparatus made and make the air-cushions four inches in diameter. He said four inches diameter would not answer; they must be eight inches. "No," said I, "four inches diameter is ample; make them four inches." A few days after he called me into the shop to try my four-inch air-cushions. I found the appara- tus secured in a vise in a vertical position. I took hold of the lever and lifted the piston; it met with no resistance until it struck sharply against the end of the chamber. For a moment I was stunned by the man's audacity, and threw the piston up and down again to make sure it was not a dream. I then turned my back on the superintendent and called to a boy to find Mr. Fulmer, the foreman of the second floor, and tell him I wanted him here. In a moment he appeared, and I said to him: "Mr. Fulmer, I want you to make a new piston for this apparatus and make it a proper fit; you understand." Mr. Fulmer bowed assent. I added: "There will be time to-day to get it into the sand, and it can be finished early to-morrow. When it is ready for my inspection come yourself to the office and let me know." About the middle of the next forenoon Mr. Fulmer called for me. I went in and found the piston arrested at each end of its motion by a perfect air- cushion. "All right," said I, "see that it is shipped to-day." Mr. Fulmer was an excellent mechanic and a man of good general intelligence; he would have made the piston a proper fit in the first place if he had not been expressly ordered to make it loose and useless. The superintendent, on his persistent assump- tion that I was a fool, had actually expected me to say when I tried the apparatus: "Oh, I see, four inches diameter will not do. You will have to make it eight." Some time in 1881 or 1882 I had a queer experience with an engine for the New York Post Office. It was to take the place of an engine then running. The engineer of the Post Office informed me that this engine had a cylinder twelve inches in diameter. I told him it looked to me from the external dimensions that the diameter must be fourteen inches and asked him to take off the back head and measure it for me. He wrote me a few days after that he found that he could not get the Daniel J. Moureli. N. Y. POST OFFICE ENGINE. 315 back head off, but I might rely upon it being twelve inches. So I did rely upon it being fourteen inches, furnished an engine ac- cordingly, and found it to be the size needed. Some time after the engine was started I received a line from the Postmaster saying they were much disappointed in it. They expected a gain in economy, but they were burning more coal than before, also that the engine pounded badly. I went to New York to see what the matter was. The engine seemed to be work- ing all right except for the knock, so I made my way down to the sub-cellar. There was nothing there but the boilers and the engineer's desk. On the cellar stairs, after I had shut the door behind me, I heard a loud sound of escaping steam. The boilers were under the middle of the building; a four-inch steam-pipe ran from them a distance of about eighty feet, suspended from the ceiling, to a point under the engine, then turned up through the floor to the under side of the steam-chest. The exhaust pipe, of the same size, came from the engine through' the floor and was carried parallel with the steam-pipe to the middle of the building and upward through the roof. The two pipes were about eighteen inches apart, and in the vertical portions under the ceiling they had been connected by a half-inch pipe having a globe valve in the middle of its length. The valve-stem was downward and the valve set wide open. The noise I heard was caused by the steam rushing through this pipe. I computed that about as much steam was being thus blown away as was used by the engine. My first impulse was to call upon the Postmaster and tell him what I had found, but I decided not to bother him. I could not reach the valve to close it, but discovered a box used for a step to an opening in the wall, so I brought that out and standing upon it was able to close the valve; then the noise ceased and I put the box back. There was no one in the cellar but a boy firing the boilers. I asked him if he knew who put that pipe there. He knew noth- ing about it, but supposed our men put it there when they set up the engine. I hunted up the engineer and asked him the same question, and got the same answer. I went to the people who did the engineering work for the Post Office and who had put in the pipes; they knew nothing about it. I could find out nothing, 316 ENOINEERINQ REMINISCENCES but had to content myself with telling the engineer that I had closed the valve and relied upon him to keep it closed. I asked him what he thought caused the thiunp in the engine; he said he had not the slightest idea, but he would try to cure it. I contented myself with writing to the Postmaster that I had removed the cause of the waste of steam and hoped he would now find the engine satis- factory. Soon after Mr. Merrick was in New York for two or three days. When he came home he said: "I have cured the thump in that Post Office engine.'* *'How did you do it?" I asked. He replied: ^'I gave the engineer a twenty-dollar gold piece, and when I went to see it the next morning the thump was gone.*' I should add that when the old engine was taken down I had the back cylinder head removed, which was done without difficulty, and found the diameter fourteen inches. "For ways that are dark and tricks that are vain" this engineer was "peculiar" in my experience. I had brought with me from Newark an order from the Willi- mantic Linen Company, who were manufacturers of cotton thread, for two engines for quite an interesting application. They were building a new mill entirely imique in its design, which has never been repeated, being an ignorant freak. It was a one-story mill 800 feet long and 250 or 300 feet wide, intended to contain five lines of shafting. Each line was independent and drove the machinery for all the successive operations from opening the cotton bales to packing the spools of thread. These lines of shafting 800 feet long were to be in the basement and to drive these machines by belts through the floor, the engine to be in the middle of each line. For this purpose I supplied a pair of condensing engines, 11 inches diameter of cylinder and 16 inches stroke, making 350 revolutions per minute, with their cranks set at right angles with each other in the line of shafting. These required no fly-wheel and would start from any position. I had a great deal of trouble with this order on account of the delay in its execution, so much so that before the first engine was finished the order for the second one was countermanded, and this order was placed with the Hartford Engi- neering Company, a new concern which was foolish enough to undertake the same speed. However, after my first engine was started they found themselves face to face with an impossibility FAULT IN TUBULAR BOILERS 317 and had to throw up their contract, whereupon the president of the company became very civil and asked me to be kind enough to make the second engine for them, which I was quite happy to do, as I had on hand the peculiar bed for these engines, which I did not break up after the order was countermanded, but had it set up against the wall of the shop in readiness for what might happen. These two engines were both in successful operation when my own operations ceased; the remaining three engines were to be added as their business required. The engineer of that company was an original investigator. He had a battery of return-tubular boilers, each one crammed full of tubes according to the usual methods of boiler-makers. He provided himself with pieces of lath one inch wide, one eighth of an inch thick, and four inches long, and laid one in the front end of each tube in one of his boilers and left them there for twenty-four hours. He had made a diagram of his boiler on which he num- bered every tube and put a corresponding number on every piece of lath. In taking them out they presented an astonishing revela- tion, which he showed me. Some of the pieces were burned almost to a coal and some were scarcely discolored, while the great body of them presented various effects of heat between these extremes. These showed distinctly the enormous differences in the tempera- ture of the gases passing thi-ough the different tubes, and that fully one half of the tubes did little or no work in evaporating the water. They taught a lesson which boiler-makers, who count every additional tube they can get into a boiler as so much added heating surface and rate their boilers accordingly, have no anxiety to learn, but which I afterwards turned to good account, as will be seen. About the last and the most interesting engine that I built while in Philadelphia was one for the firm of Cheney Brothers, silk- manufacturers, of South Manchester, Conn. This was a cross- compound, the first and the last compound engine that I ever built, and it is the only engine in this country to which I applied my condenser. The cylinders were 12 and 21 inches in diameter, the stroke 24 inches, and the shaft made 180 revolutions per minute. The condenser presented a new design in one respect; the au--pump was double-acting and made only 45 double strokes per minute, be- 318 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES ing driven by a belt from the engine shaft and the motion reduced by gears 1 to 4. This engine ran perfectly from the start, and I looked forward with confidence to a demand for many more of the same type. The diagrams made by it are here reproduced. Atmosphere Diagrams from my First and Only Ck>mpound Engine. I have a pleasant memory connected with this engine. The silk- mill is located in a very large park, scattered about which are the residences of different members of the family. About twelve years after the engine was built, in company with my wife, I was visit- ing relatives in Hartford, from which South Manchester is about twelve miles distant. One day we were driven over there with our friends to make a social call. On our arrival I left the party to make a visit to my old engine. The mill seemed to have been changed very much, and I lost my way. Finally I recognized, as I thought, the old engine-room and went in. My engine was not there, but in its place stood another engine, a pair of tandem com- THE CHENEY ENGINE 319 pounds of much larger dimensions. These had evidently just been erected, as they stood idle. "Oh, dear," said I to myself, ''my engines have been superseded for some reason or other." While I was indulging in that reflection the engineer came in. I intro- duced myself and said to him: "I see that my old engines have been supplanted." "Oh, no," said he, "yom- engines are all right; they are rimning just where they always have been. They have built a new mill twice as large as the old one, and your engines have been giving such satisfaction they have ordered another pair of compounds from the Southwark Foundry, and these are the engines; they have not been started yet, as the mill is not ready for them and won't be for a month." He directed me to the old engine-room, where I found my engines gliding away as though they had been erected yesterday. At that time I regarded these engmes as only a stepping-stone to far higher things. I was engaged on a plan for a great develop- ment of the high speed system, but which has not materialized. I still consider it as on the whole superior to the turbine, a superiority, however, which may never be established. In the spring of 1881, in our anxiety to revive the manufacture of the engine, we were foolish enough to send one to the Atlanta exhibition. We eagerly believed the promises of the agent that we should find all the machinery that we wanted to drive, and sent an engine finished with great care, and a skillful man to erect and run it. We also printed the heading of a lot of diagrams, to be given to visitors. The facts were found to be that we had nothing to drive but an idle line of shafting and one Clark's spool-winder, while the exhaust main was so small and choked with the exhausts from other engines that we had a back pressure of ten pounds above the atmosphere; so we could take no diagrams; and the fact that we did not take any was used as a conclusive argument against high-speed engines; so the exhibition did us harm instead of good. I pass over other distressing experiences at the works, and come at once to the final catastrophy in the late fall of 1882. Another exhibition opened in the fall of 1882, for which I made great preparations, and from which I anticipated important results. This was the exhibition of the New England Manufacturers' and 320 • ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES Mechanics' Institutey held in Boston. I obtained an important allotment of space with plenty of machinery to drive, and, besides a fine engine, sent a large exhibit of om- finished work, in the parts of several sizes of engines, expecting to attract the attention of all New England manufacturers. I prepared for a regular cam- paign. I rented an office and engaged a young man to represent us in Boston as our agent, and another, Mr. Edwm F. Williams, to travel and solicit orders and take the charge of erecting engines. Our engine arrived without a piston. Mr. Merrick had thought he had found a defect in the piston, and ordered another one to be made. When we came to put the engine together in the exhibi- tion, this piston would not enter the cylinder. On examination it was found -to have been turned conical, the bases of the two cones meeting in the middle, so the middle was one eighth of an inch larger in diameter than the faces. We had to get a coarse file and file down the middle of the piston all around until it would enter the cylinder. Then I had a great disappointment — the greatest I ever experienced — ^the engine thumped badly on both centers. The only way in which we could stop the thumping was by shutting off the steam until the initial pressure was brought down to the height reached by the compression of the exhaust. In this plight we had to run through the exhibition. We could not take a diagram and had to watch the engine constantly, for whenever the pressure rose ever so little too high in the cylinder it would begin to thirnip. I attributed this to the shocking condition of the surface of the piston. I could not comprehend how this should cause the thump, but it must be that, for I could conceive of nothing else that could produce it. This thump made my exhibition a total failure, and necessitated the abandon- ment of all my plans. At the close of the exhibition I went home utterly discouraged. When I went into the shop the first person I met was the foreman of the lower floor, where the engine had been built. I told him of the plight m which I found myself placed and to which I attributed my failure. The fellow gave me the lie direct, saying with a con- ceited smu-k: "It is impossible, Mr. Porter, that any such work as you have described can have gone out of this establishment." I turned on my heel and left him, and in less than half a minute MODIFIED EXHAUST VALVES 321 I saw at a distance of fifty feet a 22-inch piston being finished for an engine we were building for the Tremont and Suffolk Mill. The workman had finished turning the piston and was then cutting the grooves for the rings. The reflection from the surface showed me the same two cones meeting in the middle. I went up to the lathe, the back side of which was toward me, and told the work- man to stop his lathe and bring me a straight-edge. This rocked on the edge in the middle of the piston, opening nearly one eighth of an inch on each face alternately. I sent a boy to find the fore- man and asked him what he thought of that and left him. I had influence enough to have both the foreman and the workman dis- charged that night. Think of it; superintendent, general fore- man, the foreman of the floor, and workman, altogether, never saw what I detected at a glance from the opposite side of the shop. I want to stop here to express my disgust with the American system of making the tailstock of a lathe adjustable, which enables either an ignorant, careless or malicious workman to ruin his work after this fashion. To their credit, English tools have no such feature. The very next day we received a call from Mr. Bishop, the engineer of the works of Russell & Irwin at New Britain, Conn., to tell us that their engine just put in by us had a very bad thump which he was afraid could not be cured as it was evidently caused by the piston projecting over the admission ports when at the end of its stroke. "Impossible," I exclaimed; "I never made such an engine in my life.'' I should here state that in experimenting with the first little engine that I made before I went to England, I at first made the piston project over the port one quarter of an inch, and the engine thumped. I satisfied myself that this was caused by the impact of the entering steam against the projecting surface of the piston, driving it against the opposite side of the cylinder; this was aggravated in high-speed engines. In this case the engine made 160 revolutions per minute and the steam was admitted through four simultaneous openings, so it entered the cylinder with great velocity. I turned a quarter of an inch off from each face of the piston, and the thump disappeared. I then made it a law from which I never varied, that the piston 322 ENQINEERINQ REMINISCENCES should come to the admission port and not project over it at all> and this feature was shown in every drawing. Mr. Bishop replied to me: "It does project, Mr. Porter; it pro- jects seven eighths of an inch over the port at each end of its stroke, for I have measured it." I rushed up to the drawing-office and called for the horizontal sectional drawing of that cylinder, and there I saw the piston not only drawn, but figured — projecting seven eighths of an inch over the port. I felt as though I were sinking through the floor. That was what had ruined my Boston exhibition and sent me home disgraced and broken-hearted and the badly fitting piston, shameful as that was, had nothing to do with it. The first question that occurred to me was: "How came this drawing to exist and I to know nothing about it? " The answer to this question was simple. When the first pair of Willimantic engines was started I was disappointed in their economy, and made up my mind that the excessive waste room was accountable for it. The proportion of cross-section area to the stroke being fifty per cent, greater than in my table of sizes increased in the same degree the proportion of waste room to the piston displacement. I felt that there was need here for improvement. By far the greatest amount of waste room was in the exhaust ports. I accepted a modification of the exhaust valves by which this item of the waste room was reduced fully one half and made a new pair of cylinders for this engine. The im- provement in the economy was so marked that I determined to change the exhaust valves of all the engines. Only the exhaust valves and ports needed to be changed. These were drawn anew in pencil and carefully studied and approved of by me. It was necessary that the entire combined cylinder drawing should be re- traced, but this, except only the exhaust ports and valves, was to be copied over the existing tracings. This did not require my atten- tion, and I gave no thought to it. Here was the superintendent's opportunity. In copying these tracings he had only to move the straight line representing each face of the piston on the longitudinal section of the cylinder seven eighths of an inch, thus adding this amount to the piston at each end, and shorten the cylinder heads to correspond, and the job was done; and there did not exist among the large number of persons in the drawing-office and shop who FALSE BILL OF ALTERATIONS 323 must have been aware of this change, loyalty enough to let me know anything about it. We had abo recently finished two engines for the Cocheco Mill at Dover, N. H., and about this time we received a letter from the superintendent of that mill expressing his admiration of the engines in every other respect, but complaining of a bad thump in the cylinders. He said he would be glad to invite the superintendents of other mills to see them, but he could not show the engines to anybody imtil that thump was cured. I went directly to the president and demanded authority to change the pistons and heads of these engines. To my astonish- ment he refused point-blank, saying he had spent money enough on these alterations, and he would not spend another cent. I replied to him that there was one other alternative and that was to abandon the business, to which he made no reply. But why did I need to go to the president; why not make these changes myself? The answer to this question is very humiliating to me. An account had been made up of the cost of the alterations here described and presented to the board of directors, showing this to amount to $20,000. I was aghast at this statement; I had never seen a figure pertaining to the business, except the single bill already mentioned. I told the directors that any good pattern-maker would have taken the contract to alter those exhaust valves and ports on our twenty sizes of cylinders for an average price of fifty dollars each, and made a profit of fifty per cent, in doing it. The cost of the new drawings and the price of cylinders for the Willi- mantic engine could not more than double this sum, and by some hocus-pocus this $2000 had been changed to $20,000; probably by transfer from other losing accounts. The president replied that was the cost of the alterations as it appeared on the books, and the directors, without making any investigation, adopted a reso- lution that no further alterations should be made unless expressly ordered by the president. I did not believe that in making this addition to the length of the piston the superintendent had any intention to wreck the business. He could have had no idea of its fatal nature; his only thought was to make a considerable further reduction of waste room and gratify his itching to change my drawings. But of course doing this without my knowledge was criminal, and should 324 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES have caused his instant discharge; but his whole conduct from the beginning had been the same and the president had sustained him. I had no opportunity to pursue this matter further. On receiving the president's refusal I determined to appeal to the directors, but first I thought I would lay the matter before Mr. Henry Lewis, whom I regarded as the most open-minded of all. What was my amazement when, after listening to my state- ment, he replied: "We shall sustain the president, Mr. Porter." Then I knew the end had come. It was idle for me to butt against the Philadelphia phalanx. A day or two after a committee of the directors headed by Mr. Shortridge, called at the office and asked to see our order book. This showed that in more than a month preced- ing we had not received a single order. On this state of affairs it was evident to the directors that a change must be made in the man- agement. I had long realized that the great gulf that I had dug between the stockholders and myself, as already described, had never been filled. Neither the directors as a body, except on the single dccasion already mentioned, nor any director individually, had ever conferred with me on any subject whatever. They knew nothing, except what they might have learned from the president; he had no mechanical knowledge or ability to form a mechanical judgment, and the superintendent influenced him in a degree which to me was unaccountable. His want of comprehension of the business was shown in his answer to the life-or-death question which I had presented to him. The next day I received a communication from the directors requesting me to send in my resignation, which I promptly did. Mr. Merrick was also requested to resign. This was evidently a put up job, to let me down easy. Mr. Merrick had for some time expressed a wish to be relieved from his position which he found very uncomfortable. The directors elected as president one of their own number, who had nothing else to do, to sit in the president's chair and draw his salary, and committed the practical management of the business to an oily-tongued man who had never seen a high-speed engine, and whose qualifications for the position were that he was a friend of one of the directors and was a Pniladelphian, and who I learned received a large bonus for leaving his own business and accepting the position vacated by me. Benjamin F. Avery CHAPTER XXVII My Last Connection with the Company WILL close this account of my engineering experi- ence by relating two incidents. Among the orders which I brought from Newark was one from the firm of B. F. Avery & Sons, plow- manufacturers, of Louisville, Ky., the head of which had first established the manufacture of plows in the Southern States. Mr. George Avery, one of the sons, had come to me and asked for a list of the en^nes I had running, and took the pains to visit a number of them, also those of other prominent builders, and as a result of this extended comparison he brought me his order for an 18 X 30-inch engine, with strong expressions of the manifest superiority of the high-speed engine. This engine was about the first one I finished in the Southwark Foundry. By great careless- ness it was permitted to go out without the crank-pin being hard- ened and ground, which was contrary to my invariable practice. The man who erected the engine left the crank-pin boxes too loose, and young Mr. Avery, who was quite an amateur mechanic, under- took to tighten them up; he succeeded in heating the pin and causing it to be badly torn. He made the best job of it that he could with a file, and the engine ran in that crippled condition. Soon after I left Philadelphia, they concluded they ought to have a hardened crank-pin and wrote to the Sou thwark Foundry respecting it. They received a reply that it would be necessary to take the shaft out and send it to Philadelphia, and their works would need to be interrupted about three weeks. The firm then wrote to me in New York asking me to come to Louisville and examine the engine and advise them what to do, which invitation I 325 326 ENOINEERINO REMINISCENCES accepted. The letter to the Southwark Foundry had been written by their manager, and in it he stated that the engine pounded so badly that it could be heard two blocks away, it was so wasteful it was abnost impossible to keep up steam for it, and that they lived in such dread of its breaking down that their hair was all turning white. I felt that this letter, after making full allowance for its obvious exaggerations, reflected pretty badly, not only on the engine, but also on the boilers. These were two return- tubular boilers which I had designed myself. I had reflected a good deal on the observation shown to me by the engineer at Willimantic, and had felt that tubular boilers needed a better ver- tical circulation. This was limited by the small space left for the descending currents, the sides being filled with tubes almost touch- ing the shell. So I allowed a space five inches wide between the shell of the boiler on the sides and bottom and the nearest tubes, as it was evident to me that the water, filled with bubbles of steam, would rush up among the tubes fast enough if the com- partively solid water at the sides could only get down. I also left off the upper row of tubes to allow more space above them for the steam, and from this arrangement I anticipated very superior results. On my arrival in Louisville I thought, before presenting mjrself at the office, I would go into the works, which was open to every- body, and see what the state of affairs really was. I was directed to the boiler-house, on entering which I saw that one of the boilers was idle. My first thought was that it had been disabled by some accident, and their being limited to one boiler accounted for the difficulty they experienced in supplying the engine with steam. I asked the fireman, who I found sitting in a chair, what had happened to put this boiler out of commission. He said, "Nothing at all. They used both boilers at first, but after a while they thought they did not need both, so they shut one down, and it has been shut down ever since." "Well," said I, "you must have to fire pretty strong to make one boiler answer." "No," said he, "I have been firing boilers over twelve years and this is the easiest job I have ever had." He then showed me his thin fire and damper two thirds closed. So in two minutes I was relieved from a load of anxiety about both boiler and engine, for NEW CRANK PIN IN AVERY ENGINE 327 I had before me the evidence of their phenonenal economy, and I gave the manager credit for one good square lie. I then asked him the way to the engine-room; he told me, ''Right through that door." I listened for the poimd that could be heard two blocks away and heard a faint sound. On opening the door, which was opposite the crank, it was more distinct. There was no one in the engine-room, but while I was looking the engine over the engineer came in. I introduced myself and asked how the engine was doing. He said, ''Very well, all but that little knock in the crank-pin." I asked him if he had any trouble with it. He said, "None at all." "No worry or anxiety? " "Never thought of such a thing," he said. A nimiber of years after I met in New York a young gentleman, Mr. Ben jamb Capwell, now of the firm of Kenyon, Hoag & Cap- well, 817 Broadway, New York, who had been in the office of B. F. Avery & Sons at that time. I told him this story. He said he was not at all surprised; the boys in the ofiGice heard this manager every day dictating letters just as full of falsehoods as this one. I learned afterward that he held his position through a cabal in the company, and that soon after I was there the president succeeded in getting rid of him. I was now ready to call on the president, Mr. Samuel Avery. He told me they would like very much to have a hardened crank-pin put in the engine, but of course they could not afford to interrupt their work seriously for that purpose. I replied there would be no diflBiculty about that. The present pin might be pressed out and and a new one inserted in a few hours; all our work being made to gauge, the new pin would be sure to fit. I told him he might safely send an order to the Southwark Foundry to make ihe new pin, if they would agree to put the work into the hands of Mr. Williams, who was then in their employ, who should direct the manufacture of the pin without any interference, and himself go to Louisville and do the job. The Southwark Foundry agreed to these con- ditions, and the work was soon done. While engaged on this proof I wrote to Mr. Williams for an account of setting this pin, and received from him the following interesting letter. It will be seen that he took the safer but far more laborious 328 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES. method, as no one then in the works could assure him about the crank having been bored to gauge- It reads to me as if he found himself obliged to enlarge the hole just that one thirty-second of an inch. The method of verifying the alignment of the pin with the shaft by means of a ground bubble level was originated by me in Newark; where I found also that the pin could be thrown by riveting. 42 Broadway, N. Y., Oct. 21, 1907. Chas. T. Porter, Montclair, N. J. My Dear Mr. Porter: In reply to your request of 14th addressed Cold Springs, I am pleased to give you such account of the crank pin work at B. F. Avery & Sons, at Louisville, in 1883, as my memory will admit of. When I was instructed to do this work I received a letter from you stating that a new crank pin was to be put in and that it should be ''hardened in a furnace," allowing it to re- main in a crucible with the carbon at a lowered heat for ten hours. This was done and resulted in a fine job of hardening. The pin was then ground true and smooth. Don't think I ever saw a prettier job. The old pin had to be taken out and the new one put in. The exact diameter of the old shank was not definitely known. It was thought advisable therefore, to make the new shank about ^^ larger than the drawing dimension; so it would surely be large enough tp admit of drawing the hole which I proposed to do by hand. Before leaving the works I had a hollow cast iron cylinder or trial plug made, about twice the depth of the crank pin hole in length, about ihi" smaller than the shank of the new pin and slightly tapered at one end. We cut the bead oflF the old pin and tried a hydraulic jack on it, but it would not start. We then drilled five or six I'' holes in the shank iand the pin came out easily. The hole was then calipered and found to require considerable dressing. The crank shaft was then tried for level and found by turning in various positions and by using a very sensitive level, to de- flect from the horizontal approximately J of 1000th of an inch per foot in length. The hole was then enlarged by use of file and scraper, its adjustment being proven as the work progressed by frequent trials of level placed within the hole, at various points in the revolution of the shaft. Finally, the trial plug was worked / WHITE CATALOGUE 329 into the hole and used as a surface plate, the "high" spots being scraped down and the plug found to line with the shaft and the hole by caliper, found to be approximately iifcj" smaller than the shank of the pin. The pin was then .forced in and found to stand nearly true. The small untruth was easily corrected in riveting up the back and the pin was thrown approximately ToVff'' away from the center line of shaft rotation to oflFset the deflection that would be occasioned when running by the impact of the steam admission on centers. I think it quite likely that the pin during the twenty-four years' service up to the present date has worn scarcely a measur- able amount. Very truly, E. F. Williams. P. S. I saw the engine about 15 years ago and it 'was running very smoothly. Some time after I had left, the company found that they needed a descriptive and illustrated catalogue of the engine, and they had no one to write it; so they came to me, and in my office in New York I prepared one for them, for which they gave me the credit by printing on the title-page and cover the line, "By Charles T. Porter." I took the same pains with this that I should have done had I owned the whole place. The following letter, referring to an engine made by me in Newark, was sent by the addressee to the Southwark Foundry with an order while I was engaged on their catalogue. They made a blue-print of it and sent it to me for insertion. YouNGSTOwN, O., Dec. 21st, 1882 Mr. F. L. Waters — Mankato Minn, Dear Sir — Your favor reed, making enquiry how we like the Porter Allen Engine: would say, we have now run it four years, it has never failed one minute or cost one cent for repairs nm varied a revolution from its speed, are using it rum rum-condensing bui think of using a condenser before long. As we use it in connection with our water power, which is variable, sometimes too high and sometimes too low, making up the deficiency with the Engine, be it all or little, wedonjot know just how much coal we require for a Barrel in case we had ru) water, this much I think I krum. That it is the finest Engine made, Simple, durable, and Economical, and always ready for effective duty. 330 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES We run a Buckeye in the Diamond Mill and a good Engine at our mine, but the Porter- Allen is my favorite by aU odds, ours is 13 x24, 160 Revolutions (never more nor less). They are now designed to run 200 Rev. for that size. . If neatness effectiveness durability and Economy & Steadiness is any object to you, you vnll always be glad you bought a Porter'Allen, or I am vastly mistaken. I know thai has been my experience. We rum run constantly day & night the year round {Sundays excepted). Respectfully Yours Homer Baldwin With the preparation of this catalogue my part in the devel- opment and introduction of the Jiigh-speed engine seems to have ended. CHAPTER XXVIII The Fall and Rise of the Southwark Foundry and Biaehine Company. Popular Appreciation of the High-speed Engine jHE reader may be amused by some examples which came to my knowledge of the achievements of the new management. The expensive new vice presi- dent was of course a mere figurehead, as he knew nothing of the engine or the business or my system of work, so Mr. Merrick's superintendent had a free hand. He adhered to his long pistons, and obtained silent running by an enormous compression of the exhaust steam, commencmg soon after the middle of the return stroke and rising to initial. This involved a corresponding premature release of the steam during the expansion. Between the two, about one-third of the power of the engine was sacrificed, and they were in continual trouble from the failure of the engines to give their guaranteed power. I had always advocated giving our attention as much as possible to large engines, where all the profit lay. My views had so much weight that, unknown to me, Mr. Merrick and his superintendent were, before I left planning a smaller engine, to be called the " Southwark Engine," intended to drive isolated incandescent lighting plants. As soon as I had been gotten rid of the manufacture of this engine proceeded actively. It was largely exhibited and advertised, much to the neglect of any- thing else. This was pursued persistently until over twenty thousand dollars had been sunk in it, when it was abandoned. They had an order from the Pennsylvania Steel Company for an engine to drive a rolling mill which they were about to establish at Sparrow's Point on the Chesapeake Bay below Balti- 331 332 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES more, for the manufacture of steel rails from Cuban ores, which were found to be especially adapted to the Bessemer process, and where the then new method of rolling was to be employed, the method by which rails are rolled direct from the ingot with- out reheating, which is now in universal use. This engine was to be much larger than any previously made, and so requiring new drawings. In making the cylinder drawings the draftsman omitted the internal ribs, which are necessary to connect and stiflFen the walls of the square steam chest. The consequence of this almost incredible oversight soon appeared. The engine had been running but a few days when the steam chest blew up. The Porter-Allen valve-gear required in its joints eleven hardened steel bushings, which had to be finished inside and out. These we had always made from cast steel bars. This process was extremely wasteful of both material and time. Shortly before I left I had ascertained experimentally that I could import from England solid drawn steel tubing of any size and thickness, sufficiently high in carbon to harden perfect- ly well. The new management undertook to carry out my plans. For this purpose a list was prepared of all sizes that would be required, with the finished dimensions external and in- ternal. From this another list was prepared, giving the addi- tional material required for finishing. A large lot of the tubing was ordered. \Mien it arrived they discovered they had sent the wrong list, the tubes were too thin to be finished and were useless for any purpose. They had an opportunity to estimate for a pair of very large blowing engines. They got out their estimate for one engine, forgot to multiply the amount by two, and were aston- ished the morning after they had sent in their tender to receive the acceptance of it by telegraph. Performances of this kind were expensive. When their capital was all gone, they borrowed five hundred thousand dollars on their bonds, secured by a blanket mortgage. This did not last a great while. Only five or six years after I left the affairs of the company reached a crisis. They had no money to carry on the business, and no business worth men- James C. Brooks FALL AND RISE OF THE 80UTHWARK FOUNDRY 333 tioning to carry on^ and they owed a floating debt of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. In this emergency the directors invited Mr. James C. Brooks to take the presidency of the company. Mr. Brooks was then a member of the firm of William Sellers and Company. He was already well acquainted with the high character of the engine. He found the works well equipped with tools, nothing wanting but brains. He felt en- couraged to make this proposition to the directors, that if they would raise two hundred and fifty thousand dollars by an issue of preferred stock, to pay off the floating debt and give him seventy-five thousand dollars to start with, he would take hold and see what he could do. This proposition was accepted and Mr. Brooks took hold; and by a rare combination of engineer- ing skill and business ability and force of character, having no one to interfere with him, he soon set the business on its feet, and started it on a career of magnificent development, which under his management, has continued for nearly twenty years to the present time. Of all this, however I was ignorant. I was so situated as not to have any knowledge of the company. I only observed that their advertisements had long ago disappeared from the engineering journals. In the fall of 1905, being in Philadelphia on a social visit, in the course of conversation I asked my host "Is the Southwark Foundry still running?" With a look of amazement he exclaimed, "Running! I should say it was running and is doing a tremendous business." "Is Mr. Brooks still at the head of it " I asked. " Yes," he replied, " you will find him at his old post, and no doubt he will be glad to see you." The next day I called, and was most cordially received by Mr. Brooks. He said he discontinued advertising a number of years ago, "because the business was not of a nature to be ben- efited by advertising, it rested entirely upon its reputation." "Our correspondence," he added, "is enormous, employing six typewriters. He took me to the erecting floor of the shop. I was filled with amazement and delight at the sight which met my eyes. This floor, which had been greatly enlarged, was crowded with large engines in process of completion, most of them larger and some a great deal larger, than the largest I had 334 ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES built. I confess to a feeling bordering on ecstasy, heightened of course by the suddeness of the relevation, when I realized the commanding height to which the Porter-Allen Engine had been raised by this remarkable man. Mr. Brooks offered to take me through the shops; this however I declined, not being willing to trespass further on his time. He showed me the old shop engine which I had not seen for twenty-three years. Every- thing looked familiar except its speed. He said to me, *'we have never done anything to this engine, except to increase its speed from 230 revolutions to 300 revolutions per minute, to supply the additional power required by the growth of the business." Respecting their system, he mentioned only one feature, which he evidently regarded as of special importance, and which he seemed to suppose would be new to me. It was this: ''We make a separate drawing of every piece." Under date of Oct. 31, 1907, Mr. Brooks writes me, "the business now employs ten typewriters , and the engine which was started in 1881, and which has run at 300 revolutions per minute for the last seven years, has now been compelled by their increased requirements to give place to a compound con- densing engine of more than twice its power." Three or four years ago I was spending a few days at the Mohonk Lake Mountain House, Mr. Albert K. Smiley's famous summer resort, and one day strolled into the power house, where were three dynamos, each driven by a Ball & Wood en- gine, the latter making, I think, something over 200 revolutions per minute. I fell into conversation with the engineer, rather an old man and quite communicative. He told me he had been in Mr. Smiley's employ for seventeen years, and was voluble in his praises; said he was a wonderful man, repeating "wonderful" with emphasis, but he added "he don't know nothin about machinery, nothin, no more'n you do." My attention was at- tracted by the dynamos, which were new to me and the framing of which I thought presented a remarkably well studied design. FALL AND RISE OF THE SOUTHWARK FOUNDRY 335 I mentioned this to the old man, who replied impatiently: ''0, that aint nothin, the engine is the wonder, that's the wonder; why, when I was a yomig man we did not suppose an engine could be run more'n about fifty or sixty turns a minute, nobody never thought o' such a thing; now we can run* em any speed we like, no poiindin, no shakin, no heatin, it*s just won- derful." I did not respond or show any interest, and the old man did not waste any more enthusiasm on me. Did not say a word when I left directly after, but I fancied him saying to himself: " Another o' them stuck ups, that don't know nothin." OF Thr UNIVERoiTY OF '>^ -.1 i %'mf;[ ''I'll I'ltiht. Mi'iHiir